Beef and Pasta Stew

This makes the most tender delicious steak stew EVER and is perfect for these unseasonably cold nights we’ve been having here in NC the past few weeks.

Beef and Pasta Stew

4 cups Beef Broth
1 cup water
2 cups chopped onion
3-4 pounds of quartered small red potatoes
2 large carrots coined
2 ½ lbs boneless round steak cut into ½ inch pieces
1 can diced tomatoes
3 tbs chopped garlic
1 cup fresh spinach
1 box frozen broccoli florets
1 cup uncooked ziti
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ cup grated parm

Directions:
In large stock pot, combine first 8 ingredients. Cook on medium high for 1 ½ hours. Add remaining ingredients except Parmesan and continue to cook on medium high for 30 minutes. Top with cheese.

Simple Corn Chowder

Many people use bacon and bacon grease as a flavoring for corn chowder, but as I am currently not stomaching meat well (including my turkey bacon) I decided to go with a more vegetarian option.

Corn chowder is a simple hearty soup that is great for a cool fall day. I served it up with a fresh crisp iceberg salad with my Ranch Style Dressing. An excellent easy meal for a week day with plenty of leftovers.

Simple Corn Chowder
Ingredients:
4 TBS Butter
7-8 Red potatoes (washed, peeled and cubed)
1 medium yellow onion (finely diced)
2 cups water
2 cans Creamed corn (if using homemade its 3 cups)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 cups heavy whipping cream (or half and half)

Directions:
In a large stock pot over medium heat, sauté your onion and potatoes in the butter for 4-5 minutes. Stir in water and corn. Add your salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for approx 25-30 minutes stirring 3-4 times during cooking time.

Warm the cream (I popped it in the microwave for 2 minutes) and add to the chowder about 3-4 minutes before serving.

Multi Bean Soup

On a trip to the Farmer’s Market several weeks ago (maybe two months at this point), my mom and I found the dried bean bins. So we mixed up our own bean medley in a bag. Since the beans are by the pound we were able to produce our own special bean blend. I can’t honestly tell you what’s in it but I know there are some: butterbeans, fordhooks, pintos, black beans, legumes, etc. I’ve been meaning to make a bean soup for quite awhile but kept putting it off because cooking dried beans takes awhile. This was a rainy/stormy weekend so yesterday was perfect to experiment with soup. This is a hardy soup that is inexpensive, makes a lot and can be on hand for any time of the year.

Ingredients:
Bag of Mixed dried beans (probably about 1lb)
1 bag Frozen Stew Vegetables (potatoes, carrots, celery and onion)
1 bag Frozen Mixed vegetables (peas, green beans, carrots, corn)
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 Can Stewed Tomatoes
¼ stick of butter
Salt and pepper to taste (requires quite a bit)

Directions:
Fill crockpot (5 quart) half way up with water, and dump beans in. Cook on high for 4 hours. Beans should take up the majority of the water at this point. Dump EVERYTHING else in and cook on high for another 2 hours. Serve hot.

I am going to experiment using leftovers more as a chili or an accompaniment to Beef roast etc. I think this soup will be very versatile as it has a great natural flavor that can stand alone or go well with other dishes.

Tomato Soup

It's that time of year, where us Southern gardeners start dreaming of that first fresh ripe tomato. We envision tomato sandwiches, tomato pies, thick slices of tomato topping creamed corn and biscuits. mmmmm. Before we get to the summer though we have to make a mad effort to finish out our stores of food that we have stingely guarded over the long dark winter. We ration ourselves out to make sure we have an array good quality ingredients to last till spring and somehow, we always have an abundance left and chide ourselves every year.

This year, I have ONE jar of canned tomatoes left. I've actually had to substitute using cans from the store, but I found one quart I had missed hiding behind a casserole dish in the pantry. So I decided to give a go at Home made Tomato Soup. I looked at several recipes but decided to wing it with a loose inspiration from Robert St. John's Deep South Staples.

I did not get mine perfectly smooth and tomato-y like Campbell's. So please don't try this if you are expecting a home made version of the classic condensed soup. This a is light tomato creamy flavor. Perfect for dipping a Grilled cheese!

*Don't yell at me. I promise I've been taking pictures, but I've been trying a new trick of typing up the drafts while items are cooking so that I don't get terribly behind in posts AND pictures. I'm still figuring out the time tables of better blogging practises while living!

Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
1 Quart Jar of canned tomatoes with juice
1 can diced tomatoes
4 tbs butter
1 vidalia onion
3 cloves garlic
1 large carrot
1 stick celery
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup flour
1 cup cream
1/2 stick butter

Directions:
Melt 4 tbs butter in sauce pan. Add finely chopped onion and garlic. Stir. Add finely chopped carrot and celery. (I use a mini food chopper and do each item seperately). Cook for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Add chicken broth. Stir. Add all the tomatoes. Bring to a light boil then reduce to simmer for as long as possible to let the flavors blend. About an hour.

In a seperate sauce pan, melt the 1/2 stick butter. Add flour and cook until a smooth paste. Add cream and cook until blended. Add to tomato mixture. Pour entire mixture into a blender or food processer and pulse until tomatoes are well chopped and mixture is smooth.

1st Blog Challenge Recipe: Chicken Stew

In our family, there are many recipes that bring to mind comfort and home. One of my favorite though? Cousin Tim's Chicken Stew. I'll never forget when I first had it. Everyone had been saying for years how great of a cook my cousin was and he even had a small catering company. For some reason, I had never gone to his annual Christmas Eve Chicken Stew. Then one year I did. That first buttery creamy taste of stew MELTED in my mouth and I fell in love with chicken all over again.

I never could come close to mimicking his recipe though. I didn't know the secret. When our wedding came around I could think of no better dish to serve for an outdoor Halloween/Fall wedding than Chicken Stew and Eagle's Chili. So I approached Tim about the price to make a big pot. This sweet darling of a man, made GALLONS (I'm not even sure how many but I'm pretty sure he used at least 20 chickens that's how much there was!) for my wedding as a wedding gift to me. It was fabulous and my guests RAVED about it for MONTHS. So I finally broked down and asked him (begged him and groveled along the ground, see, I'm not above these things) for the recipe. It is fabulous. We do it a tad different but the KEY is the same. So I will tell you how I do it. Play around with it but make sure you follow the first part exactly because that is the key.

Cousin Tim's Chicken Stew
Ingredients:
1 whole roasting chicken
1 large onion
1 whole garlic clove
2-3 large carrots
2 celery stalks
salt and pepper
Half and Half
1 stick of butter

Directions:
Place all of your ingredients (except Half and Half and Butter) in a crockpot. Make sure the bird is washed and dried inside and out and well seasonged with salte and pepper. Just cut your cleaned vegetables in half or quartered in the cavity of the bird. Cover with water. Cook on low for 8-10 hours until bird is falling apart. Place a large collander in a large bowl and pour contents through strainer. Place the broth you collected in the bowl BACK into the crock pot. Throw butter into broth and melt. When melted, add cream until broth turns a golden cream color. SAlt and pepper liberally.

Debone meat and rough chop or shred chicken. The key here is to DISCARD the vegetables. The flavor is infused into the broth and chicken. Add the chicken back into the broth/cream mixture and THAT's IT. Serve with cornbread. You can play with the vegetable flavors that you want as well as how creamy you want your stew but this is the best simple stew you have ever had.

ENJOY!

I took pictures but as you can imagine, with my dinky camera, they didn't come out well. I will post them anyway soon. Promise.

French Onion Soup

This is my adapted version of French Onion soup. There are many out there and some use more herbs and flavors but I'm still being careful what I eat (due to previous allergy attack). This recipe is simple, hardy and good and really, there is no reason to try to add to it too much. Let the onions, sourdough bread and gruyere take center stage because really, you can't beat that combination anyway. It's Heavenly!

French Onion Soup

Ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil
6-7 LARGE Yellow onions, sliced
2 tbs garlic, minced
3 tablespoon flour
8 cup beef stock (two boxes)
salt and pepper to taste
1 loaf Crusty Sourdough bread
1 cup Mozzerella blend shredded cheese
Thinly sliced Gruyere cheese

Directions
Saute onions in oil over low heat until tender and golden yellow. Sprinkle flour over onions, cook a few minutes more, browning the flour well. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes or so. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, slice bread into 3/4 slices and butter both sides. Toast slices on grill pan until golden brown. Ladle soup into an ovenproof bowl, add toasted bread and cover with a sprinkle of mozzerella blend and then gently place slices of gruyere cheese over top. Place ovenproof bowl on a baking sheet lined. Bake at 350 degrees for about five minutes (or use the broiler and watch super close).

Simple Chicken Soup

On a cold blustery winter day, there is nothing more comforting then a pot of soup, stew or chili. Many people go after bread, milk and eggs. Not me. I'm going after soup fixings. When bad weather strikes, I made a big pot of soup. If we lose power, I can heat it up on the grill and if you are stuck in a cold house, you definately want something WARM to eat, not cold sandwiches! This recipe can be done in the crock pot or on the stove. I at least start it in the crock pot.

Simple Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
4 carrots, peeled and coined
2 ribs of celergy, finely diced
1 onion, diced
1 whole chicken
1/2 pint of cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 box elbow macaroni noodles, cooked just under al dente

Directions:
Cook chicken in crock pot (covered in water) for 8-10 hours until it falls off the bone. Debone chicken and use 3/4 of the meat. (I save enough meat out to do a small dinner or make chicken salad for lunches) as this recipe will feed a family for a few days.

Use about 4-6 cups of the broth, and place all your ingredients (except cream) in a pot and simmer until noodles are finished cooking. Add cream. Serve hot.

Cabbage Soup

A trip to the farmer's market this weekend, yielded up some tasty January veggies: cabbage (only slightly damaged by the cold), sweet potatoes, asparagus (imported), pears and apples!

So on a rainy, foggy January day a bowl of soup is always in order.

Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:
4tbs butter
1 1/2 onions, diced
2 tbs chopped garlic
4 cups chicken broth (2 cans)
2 cups water
2 large carrots, coined
2 small potatoes, peeled and diced
One head of cabbage, diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Directions: In stock pan, saute onions and garlic in butter. When onions are translucent, add in chicken broth and water. Add carrots and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and add in cabbage. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This would pair well with spiced sausage but since I can't eat that, we just had it plain. Steve complained about the lack of meat so I don't think we will become vegetarians any time soon! LOL
Shown above with Sweet Potato Sticks

Minestrone Soup from Stephanie

Sorry it has been a while. I meant to help Krista out while her lungs were on the fritz. But here we go. I made a phenomenal (if I do say so myself) minestrone soup.

Here's what you need:

Stock

Carrots

Onion

Green beans

Kidney beans

Crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce (I hate tomato chunks, but do what you like)

Tomato paste

Garlic

Dried rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme (or the italian seasoning mix in your cupboard)

Parmesan cheese rind

1 lb box of pasta of your choice

I had some chicken stock and a ham bone, so I made broth with the bone and combined the two.

There it is simmering away. Then I had to let it sit in my tundra of a garage to chill for a day or so. This way, I can scrape the fat off the top and the flavors have a chance to get cozy and wonderful together. Keep in mind, you can use stock in a box too. Don't be scared away!

Dice up your veggies and pop them into the pot. Please for the love of all that is holy, drain your beans and rinse them under fast running water until they stop "sudsing." If you don't, then I claim no

responsibility for the gas that will ensue. That thick sodium packed liquid your beans are packed in will throw your gut for a very unpleasant and uncomfortable night. Just sayin'.

Pour in your crushed tomatoes (I had made some tomato sauce

the other day and just used my leftovers) and your tomato paste and herbs.

Cut up your parmesan rind into a few big chunks (yes, you can leave it out and use a few tablespoons of grated parm) and plop that in your pot too. And finally, a box of pasta. I had shells. Let your pasta cook till al dente and then top with a sprinkle of more parmesan and Serve!

TACO SOUP on a Snow Night

What could be more perfect than that? When I think warmth, I don't just think physical warmth and heat. I think flavors are warm, smells are warm, even the feel of a texture can be warm. On a cold blustery night like tonight (where the sleety, snow wind mix pins your eyelids to your chin and your butt tries to fold in on itself), there is nothing better than a warm soup filled with spice, flavor, texture and heat. I KNEW tonight would not be a plain old chili night, but a perfect time to try TACO SOUP.

TACO SOUP

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
2 medium onions diced
1 LARGE (30 ounce) can of Pinto Beans
1 can Light Red Kidney Beans
1 Can Corn
1 Can diced tomatoes with chilis
1 quart canned tomatoes (about 2 cans at the store or ONE large can)
1 can black olives
1/2 cup green olives
1 package Taco Seasoning Mix
1 package Fiesta Ranch Mix

Directions:
Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Remove and saute the onions in about tbs of the drippings or olive oil. Run beef through a food processor to make sure it is finely chopped. Drain your beans and corn. Add ALL ingredients to a large stock pot and simmer for an hour.

Serve HOT with a garnish of corn chips, sour cream, or grated cheese. (or all of the above!)

Note: This could be done in the crock pot. Brown beef and onions, simmer all ingredients in crock for 4-6 hours on low.

White Chicken Chili

I believe it was the same Le Petit Pierogi blog that I found a recipe for White Chicken Chili. I did change this one quite a bit right off the bat but I am VERY pleased with it. I do believe it is one of my new favorite dishs and definately being added to the winter rotation! Plus I was able to use the leftover chicken broth to make a batch of Baked Garlic Cheese Grits so EVERYthing was used. LOVE Days like that!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs Chicken, boiled (or crockpot), deskinned, deboned and cubed (about 3 large breasts)
1 onion, chopped
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs chopped garlic
1 tbs Olive Oil
2 (15 1/2 ounce) cans of Great Northern Beans
1 large can of White kidney beans
4 cups Chicken broth
2 (4 oz) cans of diced green chilis (this makes it mild, if you want hot add more)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried italian seasoning
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
16 oz sour cream
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Crock pot chicken breasts. ( I did it for 10 hours while I was at work but you could do it on high for 4 or boil it on the stove for quicker fixing).

Debone/deskin the chicken and save broth.

Add 4 cups of broth and chicken back to crockpot (or pot). On stove saute over medium heat garlic/garlic powder and onion in oil. Add to crock pot. Add beans, chilies, seasongins to crock pot and cook on high for about an hour till hot and bubbly. Stir in Sour cream, cream and cheddar and serve hot. Is great warmed up as leftovers as well.

Crock Pot Vegetable Stew

Sometimes, you aren't in the mood to cook. Seriously, the best cooks need a day off. Once you start cooking homemade dishes, you can't turn it off. Ordering Pizza or making Hamburger Helper loses appeal. Comfort food becomes home cooked dishes but when you are too tired to cook, those foods aren't so comforting anymore because they are work. I think EVERYONE should have a series of Crock Pot dishes, or premade frozen dishes that can be thrown together/thrown in the oven, with little prep work or concentration. This little gem is a slightly heartier version of a simple Vegetable Soup.

Ingredients:
1 lb Beef stew/ Round steak cubed
1 can diced tomatoes undrained
3 cups water
1 large onion diced
3 celery ribs, sliced/diced
3 beef boullion cubes
2 carrots coined
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup frozen limas

Directions:
Combine ingredients except for frozen veggies in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours on high for 6. Add vegetables, cover and cook on high for another hour and a half or until meat and vegetables are all tender.

Baked Potato Soup

Baked Potato Soup (Cooking Light)Ofcourse MY options were not light but it was what I had on hand from making other recipes
4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds) I used about 8 white potatoes which are smaller so I cooked them for about 45 minutes
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk I used one cup of Heavy cream and Five cups Whole Milk
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream I used regular sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
Cracked black pepper (optional)
Preheat oven to 400°.
Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.
Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.