Pesto Potato Soup

I usually have a weekly menu plan, but I've been feeling lazy lately. So when it came time to start supper, I started looking around for inspiration. I let the dog out in the backyard and noticed my basil, which looked like it needed pruning. Hmm. Maybe something with pesto?

Then I started rummaging around in the kitchen. A 10 lb bag of russet potatoes. Hmm. Maybe potato soup?

And then a really crazy idea hit me. Pesto. Potato. Soup.

Whoa. This could be epic.

I started crawling the web looking for a recipe to be my starting point, and found a few. Nothing looked quite right. So I started pulling together bits and pieces, and this is what I came up with.

3 strips of bacon, browned and crumbed
1 tbls butter
1 tbls olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb (about 5 medium) potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups milk
3 cups chicken broth
4 tbsp pesto (store bought or fresh)

1. Heat olive oil an butter in stock pot. Add onion and saute until tender.
2. Add milk, chicken broth, and potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
3. Stir in pesto. Salt and pepper to taste.

This soup came together in a snap and was just what the doctor ordered for a cold, rainy day. This one will be showing up in my soup rotation!

Pumpkin Scones

Fall is coming! All week, when we've sat out on the porch to have our morning coffee, we've needed fleece pants and sweatshirts. I love it! So when a dear friend came to town, I decided that pumpkin scones would be the perfect snack for our visit.


I modified the recipe a little bit so that they're super healthy! If you want to see the original version, head on over here. But be prepared. The original calls for a whopping 2 cups of sugar! That's more than most cookie recipes. Eek.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling the tops
  

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
2. In a large bowl, stir together all-purpose and whole wheat flours, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
   
3. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or your hands. Mix in applesauce, then slowly stir in sugar until well blended. Mix in the eggs and pumpkin.
4. Separate dough into two balls. Form each ball into a circle, about 7 inches wide and about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut each round into 8 wedges and arrange on baking sheets with at least 1 inch between scones.
   
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake in a preheated oven until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove, and let cool on cookie sheets 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool.

These scones were excellent! They would be wonderful with raisins, I'm sure. Or even cranberries! I will be making them many times this season. They go great with hot chai!

Fondue Party

I love fondue. There's just something about a big pot of cheese with bread to dip it in that gets me all excited. It's been years since our last fondue party, so we decided it was time for another one.

Here are some links to last night's fondue recipes!

From Emeril, Garlicky Cheese Fondue (we used sharp cheddar instead of Muenster and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 3/4 cup apple juice for the white wine)

From allrecipes.com, Cheesy Pizza Fondue

For dipping, we had:
Deep fried ravioli (which was great dipped in both sauces!)
Smoked sausage
Lightly boiled potatoes
Toasted French bread chunks
Toasted everything bagel slices

And of course, chocolate fondue for dessert (with marshmallows, pretzeles, bananas, strawberries, and shortbread cookies). Yum!

Pineapple Muffins

Pineapple is such a summery fruit. And little Clara has a thing for fruit. We call her a fruit bat, which is only half true. She is also a pizza monster.

So we had a huge can of pineapple left over from Emily's wedding. Since I hate to waste anything, last night I started browsing for a recipe to use up the pineapple, and I found it: pineapple muffins!

The link above is the original recipe, below are the modifications I made. The muffins were awesome! I will definitely make them again!

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat for a healthier option)
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (16 ounce) can crushed pineapple
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pans, or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. Drain pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the reserved juice, egg, milk, and 1/4 cup melted butter. Mix just until blended. Add half of the pineapple (about 1 cup) to the batter and fold in gently.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the cinnamon, brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/4 cup melted butter to make the topping.
4. Spoon batter into muffin cups, then spoon pineapple over the batter and sprinkle with the cinnamon topping.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the crown of the muffin comes out clean.

Wedding Recipes Part II: Peanut Butter Brownies

These peanut butter brownies were an undeniable hit. I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, which has a lot of yummy-looking recipes.

The picture is from Smitten Kitchen as well. As it happened, I was too busy baking to snap photos!



Peanut Butter Brownies

Adapted from Butterwood Desserts, West Falls, New York via Gourmet, October 2007 (recipe via Smitten Kitchen)

Makes 32 brownies, more or less, depending on how you cut them

For brownies

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional, taste the batter first and see if you think it needs salt)

For ganache
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (9 ounces)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Make brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F with rack in middle. Butter a 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan, then line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter parchment.

Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, then add peanut butter and beat until incorporated. Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla. Reduce mixer sped to low, then mix in flour until just combined.

Mix in chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top. (It will be thick, almost like cookie batter.)

Bake until brownies are deep golden, puffed on top and a wooden pick inserted in center come out with some crumbs adhering, 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make ganache: Put chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups) in a heatproof bowl.

Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips and let mixture stand for one minute.

Gently whisk in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted, and a smooth mixture forms.

Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Brownies keep in one layer in an airtight container three days, and we hope much longer if hidden waaay in the back of the freezer.

Wedding Recipes Part I: Mint Brownies

I promised everyone that I would post the recipes from Emily and Robert's wedding reception, and I'm just now getting around to it. Rather than post everything at once, I thought I'd break it up a bit. Today's recipe: Mint Brownies. Watch out. There's a lot of butter in here!

Chocolate Mint Brownies – (Recipe for 1 1/2 times is in parenthesis)

Whisk together:
1 c. melted butter (1 ½ c.)
½ c. cocoa powder (3/4 c.)

And then add:
2 c. sugar (3 c.)
4 eggs beaten (6)
1 tsp. vanilla (1 ½ tsp.)
½ tsp. salt (3/4 tsp.)

Mix well and then add:

1 ½ c. sifted flour (2 ¼ c.)

Stir in by hand. Do not over mix.

Pour into 9×13 pan sprayed with cooking spray. If making 1 1/2 recipe pour into Baker’s Half Sheet (large cookie sheet.) Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes. Cool for a few minutes and then place in freezer for 20 minutes.

While brownies are in the freezer make first layer of topping.

Mint frosting:
½ c. butter softened (3/4 c.)
2 Tbsp. milk (3 Tbsp.)
2 c. powdered sugar (3 c.)
1 tsp. peppermint extract ( 1 ½ tsp.)
green food coloring

Mix thoroughly. Evenly frost brownies and put back in freezer for 20 minutes. Make chocolate ganache top layer.

Chocolate Ganache Topping:
½ c. butter (3/4 c.)
1 ½ c. good semi sweet chocolate chips (2 ¼ c.)

Melt and whisk together. (I melt them together in a Pyrex measuring bowl in the microwave for one minute. Be careful not to overheat. It won’t look melted but once whisked it is.) Drizzle warm chocolate over brownies and spread smooth with a spatula. Put back in freezer for another 20 minutes.

Homemade Tortillas

Several months ago, I started making homemade tortillas. Maybe that was a big mistake. These tortillas are soft, delicious, and have pretty much spoiled me. Taco night is no longer a mess-free affair at the Shull house, since it now involves getting out the rolling pin and flouring up the counter.

Homemade Tortillas
2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat)
1-½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
Method:

1. Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
2. Add vegetable oil to the lukewarm milk and mix together.
3. Gradually add the milk to the flour mixture, and using clean hands, work it into a gooey dough.
4. Turn dough out onto a surface dusted with flour and knead until the dough is no longer sticky.
5. Return the dough to the bowl and let sit for about 20 minutes.
6. Divide dough into 8 balls of equal size, cover them. Let sit for another twenty minutes.
7. Roll the balls out one at a time to about a 7 inch circle. (I have a pastry mat with a nice little circle that shows me a 7-inch circle. $2 at Wal-Mart!)
8. Cook in a preheated skillet (I use a cast iron). Flip after 30 seconds (the dough should be bubbly, kind of like a pancake) and cook the other side for about 20-30 seconds. Do this with all of the dough.

It's just that easy! I've gotten in the groove of this. I roll out a tortilla, place it in the pan, and while that one's cooking, I roll out another one. The timing works out great, and it gives me something to do other than stare at the cooking tortilla.

CrockPot Orange Chicken (and a secret)

I haven't forgotten about this blog. And I have been cooking! I just haven't had time to post much lately. Hopefully over the summer I'll be able to get some new recipes on here. Especially since I'll be heading up the food for a wedding reception. We'll be doing lots of tasting in the coming weeks.

This recipe has a lot going for it, since it's quick, easy, and cheap. Did I mention yummy? Even Allen, who isn't the world's biggest fan of cooked fruit, thought it was great.

Now for the secret. Those of you who know me know that I've recently become slightly addicted to couponing. What you may not know is that I keep a spreadsheet of my grocery savings. Yes. What a nerd. (This spreadsheet doesn't include Walgreen's spending or milk. Maybe next year I'll try to be more comprehensive.) The bottom line is this: we budget $200 a month for groceries, and I stay within that budget. Meals like this one help me do that! We're also "part-time vegetarians" and eat several meatless meals each week. This week's meatless nights included lentils tacos, which are amazing. I'll try to post the recipe sometime soon, because it is one of our standard meals now.

But on to the orange chicken!

4 chicken drumsticks, skin removed* (I forgot to remove the skin. Oops)
4 chicken thighs, skin removed*
1 cup green and red bell pepper strips
1/2 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup prepared orange juice
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon light molasses
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
11 ounces can mandarin oranges
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup frozen peas

*Or use 4 chicken leg quarters

PREPARATION:

(Ideal slow-cooker size: 5- to 6-quart)

Place chicken in slow cooker. Top with pepper strips. Combine broth, juice, ketchup, soy sauce, molasses, mustard, and garlic salt. Pour over chicken. Cover. Cook on low 5-6 hours.

Measure out 1 cup of cooking sauce from the crock pot. Put in saucepan and bring to boil. Drain oranges, reserving 1 Tbsp. juice. Stir cornstarch into reserved juice. Add to boiling sauce in pan. Add peas to sauce and cook, stirring 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens and peas are warm. Stir in oranges.

Arrange chicken pieces on platter of cooked white rice or lo mein noodles. Pour orange sauce over chicken and rice or noodles. If you want to get fancy, you can chop a few green onions and throw them on top.

This dish is great the next day. When I was putting away the leftovers, I pulled all the meat off the bones and combined the meat and sauce. Allen liked it better this way!

CrockPot Cacciatore with Spaghetti Squash

Have you ever cooked a spaghetti squash? It has to be one of the coolest vegetables EVER!

Check it out! How cool is that? I first tried spaghetti squash about a year ago, when I was dealing with gestational diabetes and trying desperately to find something that I could eat that wouldn't make my blood sugar do crazy things.

That night, it wasn't that great. I didn't let the squash cook long enough, so it ended up being kinda crunchy. Ew.

But I decided to give it another shot. Y'know. Cause I'm fair like that.

So I made chicken cacciatore! In the crock pot! With spaghetti squash!

Ingredients
1 onion
1 clove garlic
2 cups cooked chicken
1 bell pepper, seeded and sliced into chunks
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 spaghetti squash

1. Poke a few holes in the spaghetti squash and microwave for about 3 minutes to soften it up a bit. You can try cutting it in half without this, but it may necessitate a trip to the emergency room because you sliced your arm off. These suckers are hard to get into. So just nuke it for a few minutes, and then slice it in half with ease!

2. Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down in a dish with 1/4 cup water and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 8-10 minutes, or until squash is tender.

3. ALLOW THE SQUASH TO COOL. Cause it's really hot at this point. Then, use a fork to scoop out the flesh into spaghetti-like strands! (This is the most fun part of the whole recipe).

4. Add chicken, squash, tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, garlic, and spices to the crock pot. Cook on high 4 hours or low 6-8.

World's Tastiest Sausage Balls

I have always loved sausage balls. What's not to love? Biscuit? Good! Sausage? Good! Cheese? Good! Put them together and you've got one tasty little finger food. But Sunday afternoon as I was whipping up a batch, I took a lesson from Remy (you know, the rat from Ratatouille) and started getting fancy with the spices. What I came up with was nothing other than the best sausage ball I've ever eaten.

I wasn't writing it down, so I hope I can remember what went in there!

Let's see...

I know that I used:

2 cups flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoon shortening

Mix with a fork/pastry blender/your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. (It's just a homemade substitute for Bisquick, but produces a lighter, fluffier sausage ball)

Then I added:

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoons dried onions
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon powdered chicken bouillon

Mixed together well. Then I used my hands to work in:

1 lb sausage
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese (freshly grated, not the sprinkly stuff)

Formed into walnut sized balls and baked at 350 for approximately 15 minutes (until lightly browned).

CrockPot Carnitas

This recipe gets a thumbs up from my sweet hubby. I think he'd be ok if we ate this 4 out of 5 nights of the week (with the fifth night being homemade pizza). That's fine with me, because I love making carnitas! For those of you who haven't had them before, carnitas is just cooked, seasoned pork. Think of it like a pork taco!

Recipes don't get much easier than this.

2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp ground corriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (this is NOT optional--trust me, it makes the dish!)
1 (3 to 4lb) Boston Butt pork roast
2-3 bay leaves
salt to taste (1-2 tsp should do fine)

Now for the directions:

1. Put meat in the crockpot and rub seasonings in.

2. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 7-8 hours. (Note: you're just wanting to cook it till it's falling apart tender. Some crock pots cook more quickly than others do, so the cooking times are approximate).

3. When done, shred the meat and serve with tortillas, sour cream, cheese, and your choice of hot sauce!

See? I told you it was easy!

Cranberry Walnut Bars

If you've read any of my other posts, you know that I like to tinker with recipes. A substitution here, an addition there, it's all part of the fun!

Today's recipe is one that requires no tinkering, mostly because I made it myself. That's right, folks! My very own creation! Of course, the inspiration came from other places.

My lovely friend served us this amazing pie last year. I have a thing for cranberries--more than a passing interest, but less than an obsession--and her pie was my first experience with cranberries in a pie. What a revelation!

So this morning when I started trying to think of something snacky to take to game night, I remembered the pie. Since pie is typically not a finger food, I decided that a little experiment was in order. Could I turn a pie into a finger food?

For the crust, I decided to do standard bar cookie base.

For the cookie base:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Mix together. Then, using your fingers or a pastry blender, cut in
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces

until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add:
3 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Work with your hands until the dough begins to stick together. Press into a 13x9 pan, lined with greased foil, and bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes (just until the middle begins to firm up).

Take out the pan, but leave the oven on. Now make the filling!

For the filling:
3 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts
3/4 tsp cinnamon

Mix together and dump on the crust, spreading everything out evenly.

Last step is to make the topping.

For the topping:
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
6 tbs flour

Mix together and drizzle over the crust.

Bake at 375 for 50 minutes or so, until the topping begins to brown. Remove from oven and cool in the pan. When completely cool, lift the bars out and cut into squares with a sharp knife.

These cookies are amazing. The crust is crumbly and flaky. The topping is phenomenal. Best of all, you'll only get one bowl dirty (well, one bowl plus the pan you bake them in). Try them! You won't be disappointed.

Pumpkin Granola

One of the great things about granola is that it's versatile. And it's a good thing, too. Our granola cooking went something like this.

Me: Ok, can you read me the recipe?
Husband: Oats.
Me: Got it.
Husband: Pumpkin pie spice.
Me: Hmm. We don't have any of that. Let me look up a recipe for it. (Time elapses). Ok, we'll just use cinnamon and cloves. It calls for ginger too, but I ran out of that making gingerbread last week.
Husband: Next are the spices. (We have them all this time!)
Me: Gotcha.
Husband: Apple sauce. Maple syrup.
Me: We ran out of maple syrup when we had the rest of those pumpkin waffles. (I'm beginning to think I need to go grocery shopping at this point.)
Husband: How about that agave nectar?
Me: That works!
Husband: It also calls for pepitas.
Me: I have no idea what that is. (Googles it). Oh, they're pumpkin seeds. Why didn't they just say pumpkin seeds? No matter. We don't have them anyway. How about almonds instead?

So really, I could call this Use What You've Got Pumpkin Granola. Other possible names for this recipe: Makes the House Smell Amazing Granola, Feels Like Thanksgiving Granola, and Delicious Granola.

So here's the original recipe.

Here's what we ended up with:

5 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (substituted with cinnamon+cloves)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
¾ tsp. salt
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup (1/4 cup agave nectar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pepitas (1/2 cup sliced almonds)

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt. Mix well.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. They will be moist. Evenly spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and stir. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the granola is golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and stir in dried cranberries and pepitas. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Cranberry Apple Coffeecake

I love the holidays! This year is even more special, because it's our first holiday season with the Little Darling Girl. We're actually going to have Christmas morning in our own house for the first time in...a while! Of course I don't want to doom my husband to Christmas breakfast of Cheerios (or even Quaker Golden Maple Oatmeal Squares, which are his favorite). I want Christmas breakfast to be special.

For a while, I was thinking about making pain au chocolat, but that's a lot of work. Totally worth it, but I'd like to minimize the hassle factor for this meal.

I'd also like something festive. Remember that Buttermilk Blueberry Coffeecake I told you about? That recipe was just begging for a Christmas update!

I decided to use half whole wheat flour, just to healthy it up a bit. But let's face it...it's still cake for breakfast.

I baked mine in two 8x8 pans. And it definitely accomplished the "less hassle" goal, because I made the batter the night before and then just baked it this morning. Piece of cake. Literally!

1/2 cup butter 1 1/3 cups white sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups buttermilk 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups white whole wheat flour 3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup cranberries 1 cup diced apples Topping 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 2/3 cup white sugar 6 tablespoons butter, softened

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. (Or, you can use two 9x9 or two 8x8 pans) Sift together 4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter and 1 1/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated. Sir in cranberries and apples. Pour batter into prepared pan. In a small bowl, combine 2/3 cup flour and 2/3 cup sugar. cut in 6 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over top of batter. (Note: At this point, you can refrigerate the batter and bake in the morning.)
3.	Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

My Favorite Tomato Soup

When I was growing up, the only person in my family who ate tomato soup was my mom. Sadly, she was also the only person in our family who was allergic to tomatoes. Eek. Life's unfair sometimes. I have no idea how I got started eating tomato soup. I'm thinking that cute guy I married might have something to do with it. That, and this amazing recipe, which Paula Deen came up with and I tweaked to suit my fancy.

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
3 cups canned chicken broth (or vegetable broth, if making vegetarian soup)
1 (29-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (29-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice (Note: If you're planning to blend this soup so that it's nice and smooth, it doesn't really matter what kind of tomatoes you use. I used two cans of crushed tomatoes instead of 1 can of sauce and 1 of diced)
2 dashes hot sauce (I used Frank's)
2 tablespoons honey (we used raw honey made locally! Yay Logan's Lake honey!)
1/2 tablespoon dried dill weed
1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder

1. In a 4-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt half (51/2 tablespoons) of butter. When melted, whisk in the flour and stir until very smooth. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, until very thick and smooth.

2. In a small skillet, melt the remaining butter. Sauté the onion and garlic over low heat until the onion is translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Add the onion and garlic to the flour mixture and combine. Slowly add the chicken broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition and allowing the soup to thicken slightly before adding more broth.

4. When all the broth is added, add the tomato sauce and the diced tomatoes, 1 cup at a time, stirring well and allowing the mixture to thicken before adding more. When all the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes have been added, season soup with hot sauce, honey, dill weed, pepper, chili powder, and basil.

5. Allow to simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes so that the flavors can blend. Stir frequently, as the soup will stick to the bottom of the pot. Blend till smooth, if desired. An immersion blender is great for this job, or you can use a traditional blender, working in batches.

I like to make this soup at least a day ahead of time, because it only gets better the longer the flavors sit. We've already enjoyed this soup twice, and we're only a few weeks into the soup season!

World's Best Chai Concentrate

I apparently don't have much of a backbone when it comes to peer pressure! Since so many sweet friends have asked for the recipe, I'm sharing what is certainly the best thing I've made all month. Or even last month!

I've tried lots of chai trying to replicate the delicious drink served at my favorite Indian restaurant, but nothing has ever gotten it quite right. I've tried chai spice tea bags (some of which are pretty good, most are disappointing), chai spice powders (mostly blech), and most recently, boxed chai. The boxed stuff is, in my humble opinion, the best at duplicating the chai we all dream of. However, at more than $3 a box for 8 servings of chai (which we can drink in a week, easy!), I was looking for a more economical option.

The upfront cost of all the spices was pretty steep, but I'll come out ahead in the long run. Just for fun, I'm going to keep track of how many batches this makes so that I can let you know just how much I saved over buying the boxed mix. I plan to make this every week until warmer weather comes our way!

Chai Concentrate
(makes 1 quart concentrate, enough for 2-3 quarts chai)

1 qt. cold water
1 family size black teabag (or 4 individual black teabags, or 4 rounded tsp loose tea--I used Irish breakfast and it was super)
2 cinnamon sticks (or 1/2 tsp. chopped cinn. sticks)
12 cardamom pods, crushed (or 1/2 tsp. cardamom seed)
1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled (or 1/2 tsp. tea-cut dried ginger)
1/4 tsp. whole cloves (about 4)
6 whole black peppercorns
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. sugar
Milk

Put water, teabag, cinnamon sticks and ginger in saucepan. Lightly crush the cardamom pods. Don't grind to oblivion, just enough to release the seeds! You can do this in a mortar and pestle, or with a rolling pin. Combine cardamom and cloves in teaball, put in pan (Note: If you don't have a teaball, you can put everything in loose and just strain it at the end). Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes. Remove teabag, cinnamon, ginger and spices. Stir in vanilla and sugar.

To store for future use, pour mixture into container and refrigerate. To serve immediately, mix chai with milk in proportion of 1/3-2/3 or 1/2-1/2 . Adjust to taste. Delicious warm or cold.


For Henderson locals wondering where to find all these fabulous spices, here's where I got my stuff:

Cardamom pods: Ada's sells green ones for a reasonable price. They're not at Wal-Mart or the South Kroger, so don't bother looking. (Wal-Mart has a place on the shelf for cardamom, but apparently the clerks think cumin is the same thing, since the whole shelf is filled with cumin. They are so wrong.) Ada's carries the whole pods and the seeds. I recommend the whole, because they'll stay fresh longer. Fresher means yummier tea!

Cinnamon sticks: Once again, Ada's saves the day! You can get a HUGE bundle of cinnamon sticks for less than $1.50. I mistakenly bought some cinnamon sticks at Wal-Mart (McCormick brand) and got about a quarter of the amount for $4.50. I will be returning them to Wal-Mart, unopened!

Ginger: Several groceries around carry "fresh" ginger, however, I have always been disappointed in the freshness when I've bought it in the past. It was almost always dry, indicating that it had been sitting in that bin for too long. Maybe you'll have better luck. Or, you can do what I did and just get some crystallized ginger. Wal-Mart carries it, and I have also found it in gift boxes at T.J. Maxx and similar stores. Bonus: You'll have it on hand when the urge to make chai strikes you.

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

I don't often make things up off the top of my head; usually I'll get an "inspiration recipe" and take it from there. Last week, I was feeling adventurous and decided to flex my creative muscles. What resulted was a super-tasty casserole that the hubby demanded I make again. Awesome!

1 lb ground beef, browned
6 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced
6 strips of bacon, browned
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup beef broth

The best part of this recipe was how easy it is. I used ground beef from the freezer and crisped the bacon in the microwave (5 minutes on high should do the trick), so no pans required! Dumped everything in the crock and cooked for 8 hours.

The casserole was good cooked as listed above, but if you're feeling extra cheesy, or if you just want to jazz it up, make this cheddar cheese sauce and pour it in during the last hour of cooking.

2 tbls butter
2 tbls flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add flour and stir till smooth. Add milk. Cook for 3-4 minutes on low, just until it begins to thicken. Add cheddar cheese and stir until cheese is melted. There you go! Easy cheddar cheesy! I guess you could probably use a can of condensed cheddar cheese soup if you wanted it to be even easier, but I didn't have any.

Buttermilk Blueberry Coffeecake

Coffeecakes have always intrigued me. They SOUND good. They LOOK good. But so often when sampling one at a potluck, I've found myself disappointed. They just usually don't taste as good as they look.

Thanks to this recipe, however, that's all about to change! I didn't change a thing from the recipe, except that I had to substitute regular milk with a tablespoon of vinegar for the buttermilk, since I didn't have the real deal on hand.

The picture is stolen, but I do have a good reason! My stupid digital camera is off at the repair center. After going around and around with the tech support people at Kodak, they decided to fix my warrantied camera. Thanks so much.

My Big, Fat, Delicious Banana Bread

And now...the bundt cake! Sorry. Whenever I use a bundt pan, I always think of that scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. You know the one...where the dry as toast white lady brings her little bundt cake to the lamb-roasting-on-a-spit Greek party. Gets me every time!

But anyway, back to the banana bread. Banana bread has been my Achilles heel as a cook. No matter what I do, it always turns out AWFUL. The inside is mushy, the outside is burned--yuck, yuck, yuck. I can't tell you how many banana breads I've thrown away, uneaten. Well, I guess technically I could tell you, but I won't. Because it's just plain embarrassing.

Today, I am thrilled to announce, I did it! I made a banana bread that was not only edible, it was enjoyable! Even if I don't do anything else that's useful today, I'll go to bed with a smile on my face tonight.

1 3/4 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar (I used raw sugar)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4tsp cream of tartar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup applesauce or oil
1 tbsp vanilla
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 400. Mix dry ingredients. Make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients well. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir. Do not overbeat. Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes for a bundt pan, 18 minutes for muffins (I did a bundt and mine was done at 32 min). Enjoy!

And We're Back...with Waffles!

It's not that I haven't been cooking lately, because I have! I've tried lots of yummy recipes lately! For instance, we had a fantastic pasta tonight, pasta with butter beans and red wine that was simple, healthy, and so yummy. I've also made an excellent Grasshopper Pie (recipe will follow, maybe on Saturday). But tonight I'm excited about breakfast, which will be waffles made with my new waffle iron! I decided to buy myself one with my birthday money. For my first waffles, I'm making a yeasted waffle based on the recipe found here.

1 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 c bread flour
1/2 c almond meal
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
4 tbsp butter, melted & cooled
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

The original recipe called for separating the eggs and beating in the whites the next morning. Phooey on that! The idea behind "overnight" waffles is the "set it and forget it" mentality. So I just mixed up the whole lot and set it in the fridge. Tomorrow, we bake! And then I'll update and let you know how they turned out.

Update:
While these waffles were certainly tasty (and definitely better than cold cereal for breakfast), I think that I prefer regular old, non-yeasted (un-yeasted?) waffles. Allen thought they were great, but on a scale of 1-10, I'd put them somewhere in the 6.5 range. Nothing to scream about, but didn't make me want to hurl either.