Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Lake Erie Clipper Soup

I have no idea what the name of this soup means. I know what Lake Erie is, and roughly where it is. And I bet that "clipper" refers to a clipper ship, a ship most commonly used around the turn of the century to quickly (by the standards of those days) get goods from the east coast to the west coast by sailing all the way around South America. Neither one of these concepts appear in this soup, and no insight is offered by the recipe's contributor. It's from Tiffany's fundraising cookbook, Homeward Bound. It sounded like it would be really yummy, and it is soup season, after all. We had this with bread and butter. It's a bit light on veggies, but none of us mind that. At all.

Lake Erie Clipper Soup
5 cups beef broth, divided
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb stew beef, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 medium onions, chopped
salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup pearl barley (I used "quick" barley)
1/2 cup small shell macaroni (I used mini alphabet pasta)
2 cups stewed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes, 14.5 oz can)

Heat oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Dredge meat in flour, salt, and pepper (it doesn't tell you how much, but I used 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper) and brown in pot. Add garlic and onions, brown lightly. Add 4 cups of broth. Bring to a boil for 3-5 minutes. Add bay leaf. Simmer gently x 1 hour. Add remaining broth. Bring to a boil. Add barley, macaroni, and tomatoes. Simmer 30 minutes. Then remove the bay leaf.

So, it never tells you what to do with the thyme. I added it when I added the bay leaf.

So this was pretty good. The kids all liked it, because they like alphabet soup because of Martha Speaks (a cartoon on PBS where the dog eats alphabet soup and then she can talk and read and stuff). We ate about half of it, and remaining half is going into the freezer to eat on a zombie night (those are the nights when I feel like a zombie. I don't act like one. I don't want to eat anyone's brains or anything. Just in a haze of tiredness).

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Buttermilk Cake with Caramel Icing

We brought this to home fellowship last night too. I found it on my second pass through the Taste of Home cookbook. It looked like it would be good for a crowd, and we always have lots of kids at HF (19 last night, not counting the ones that are still incubating!!). Also it seemed good for fall, even though it's in the "spring" section of the cookbook.

Buttermilk Cake with Caramel Icing
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (you can buy buttermilk, or make your own by putting 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar into a 1 cup measure and then filling with milk to the 1 cup line)
Icing:
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition (batter will be thick).

Pour into greased and floured 10 inch fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely.

For icing, in a small saucepan combine the butter, brown sugar, and cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; cool for 5-10 minutes. Whisk in confectioners' sugar. Drizzle over cake. 12-16 servings.

I just had a small piece of this, and I thought it was a bit dry. But my friend Jill didn't think it was, and she also really liked the icing. That part was good. While Em & Nathan were helping me with the cake, they kept sticking their fingers in the icing that was drizzling off the sides of the plate. So that part at least was good. Kids are pretty smart, and it seemed like a lot of the plates had the icing-covered parts of the cake eaten, and the bottoms left behind, but I can't blame them.

Pear Party Salsa

Emma got this cookbook for free at the checkout at the Natural Living Center. It's called Pearfect Recipes for Kids in the Kitchen. It's all about pears, because it's pear season. She wants to try every recipe in it. We'll see. We made this one for home fellowship last night. Emma wrote a shopping list of the things we needed to make this recipe and one other one that she really wants to try. It was very cute. She did a lot of this recipe herself, because I have the Tupperware Quick Chef Pro, which makes it very easy to make salsa of either the fruit or vegetable variety. I quartered the apples and pears, and put them in there, and then we added the other ingredients and she turned the crank and voila! Salsa. Then you take the blade out, add the other ingredients, put the cover on that comes with it, and you can serve right out of it!! These are awesome and you should get one. I got mine for free when I had a Tupperware party with Rebecca Coffin.

Pear Party Salsa
1 pear, cored and finely chopped (we used 2, because of the crowd at HF)
1 apple, cored and finely chopped (we used 2)
2 kiwis, peeled and finely chopped
1 orange, peeled and finely chopped (she forgot to write this on the list, but I had a can of mandarin oranges that we threw in there)
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp lemon juice
cinnamon graham crackers

Combine pear, apple, kiwi, and orange in a medium bowl. Pour honey and lemon juice over fruit and gently toss. Scoop up mouthfuls of fruit salsa using cinnamon graham crackers.

Most of the grown-ups liked this, but it seemed like most of the kids weren't crazy about it. Even Emma. She just picked the apples and pears out of her portion, and left the kiwi behind. So not a huge hit, but it was fun for us to do together.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Texas Stir Fry

My friend Lisa Norsworthy gave me this recipe. She knows I am part Mexican at heart, and she thought I would like it. She even thoughtfully wrote it on a recipe card for me! That was a nice touch. This is another one, like Taco Pasta from last week, that I've had in my book for a few weeks, waiting for the right time. Because I am OCD about meal planning and meat buying. But that's a tale for another day.

Texas Stir Fry
1 tbsp oil
1 pork tenderloin cut into thin strips
1-2 tbsp chili powder
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half (I used a can of diced tomatoes instead)
1 can corn, drained (I used 1 1/2 cups frozen corn)
1/4 tsp salt
Hot cooked rice

Coat the meat with chili powder, then stir fry til done. Remove from pan to bowl. Stir fry onions and garlic for 30 seconds, then add remaining ingredients. Stir fry for a couple minutes, then add pork back and heat through. Serve over rice.

Easy and so so yummy. Next time I will coat the meat with chili powder and salt, since that's the only thing I noticed. Needed a bit more salt. But I am a sodiumaholic. So you might think it's fine. But the 1/4 tsp of salt you're supposed to add, just do it with the chili powder instead of waiting til the end. If you want. I will definitely make this again. It smelled great, the meat was tender, the veggies with it were so yummy! Thanks for sharing with me Lisa!!

Dinner Rolls

I am posting this one for dear friend and faithful blog reader Kristy Chapman. She really wants this recipe. We were on a field trip, and the kids were eating little sandwiches on leftover dinner rolls. I saw somewhere that people call these "sliders" and so that's what the kids were calling them too. They are cute, and the perfect size for kids. Sam could probably eat 2, but I don't make him 2. I just put more meat in his. Also Nathan is very picky, so he likes his meat on the side, and the roll by itself. And NO CHEESE!!! You make these in a bread machine, so it's really easy.

Dinner Rolls
1 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 egg
5 1/4 cups bread flour (I usually do 2 cups wheat, and 3 1/4 cups white)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan in order listed. Use dough setting on bread machine. When cycle is done, Grease 2 cookie sheets. Punch dough down and divide into 3 parts. Divide each of these into 8 parts. Shape each of the 24 pieces into a ball. Place 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Cover; let rise 30 to 40 minutes or until doubled in size. Near the end of the rise time, preheat oven to 375. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

So there it is, Miss Kristy! Easy and yummy. Let me know if you try it!

Ethiopian Vegetables with Garlic & Ginger

This is from Homeward Bound, a fundraising cookbook that my friend Tiffany was (maybe still is?) selling as a fundraiser for her adoption of a little boy from Ethiopia. She asked for contributions from a bunch of people, and then put them all together in this book. I really like the cookbook because it has a good mix of a lot of different kinds of recipes. This one is (as you may have inferred from the title) from Ethiopia. But it sounded tame enough for me to try with the fam. Also it has an Ethiopian name, Yataklete Kilkil. But I'm just going to call it Ethiopian vegetables.

Ethiopian Vegetables with Garlic & Ginger
6 small red potatoes, scrubbed (I used 8, and some of them I had to cut because they were not "small." I really like potatoes and 6 didn't look like enough)
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into pieces (I used baby carrots, already the right size and way less work)
1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut into 2" lengths (I did look for these but they didn't have them at the Walmart, so I used frozen. It was fine)
1/4 cup oil (I used olive oil)
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded, and minced (I left these out, due to my wimpiness)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp finely chopped ginger root
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper (I happened to already have this, but I think you could just use regular pepper and nothing bad would happen)
6 green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in potatoes. After 5-6 minutes, add carrots and green beans; cook 5 more minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a stewpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onions, green pepper, and jalapenos. Saute 5 minutes, do not brown. Then stir in garlic, ginger, salt, and pepper. Stir 1 minute. Add reserved vegetables and toss gently until coated. Sprinkle on the green onions. Cover the pot and cook on low for 10 minutes. Vegetables should be tender crisp.

My first Ethiopian recipe was a success! This smelled great and tasted great. I wasn't sure this would be a meal in itself, so I warmed up some left over pork roast that I had in the fridge. But I think this would totally be fine with some kind of yummy bread & butter. The veggies are very hearty, and if you make extra potatoes like I did, it would definitely be enough of a meal. This is definitely something I will make again!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Taco Pasta

Second Mexican recipe of the week. This one a friend of mine, and awesome Scentsy consultant, Nicole Cleveland, emailed to me. She remembered that I am part Mexican (at least as far as dietary preferences go...also I WOULD like to get one of those cars with hydraulics so you bounce all around when you drive). I thought it sounded really good so I printed it and have held onto it for a few weeks, waiting for the right time to fit it in. So here it is, with a couple of modifications.

Taco Pasta
1 pound ground beef or turkey (I used hamburger)
8-12 ounces medium pasta shells or other small dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained (I just used plain diced tomatoes)
4 tablespoons taco seasoning (I used 1 packet)
3 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground meat over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the meat is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the meat is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes.

Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, and sour cream, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes.

Toss in the cilantro right before serving for some fresh color and flavor. Serve with a green salad.

We did not have this with a green salad, although you certainly could. We just had salad last week. Can't have too much of that stuff. I did add 1 cup of frozen corn in when I added the cream cheese and the sour cream. It was good like that, and then I feel better because we're having a vegetable. Some people say corn shouldn't count as a vegetable, but it grows in the ground. Also, everybody liked this! Nathan and Emma picked around the bigger chunks of tomatoes, but otherwise this was a hit. Also I didn't put cilantro on any of the kids' plates, just mine and Steve's. Definitely a keeper, definitely will make again.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of the recipes I found on my second pass through the TOH cookbook. Mondays we have our friends over for supper, and Melissa likes to be a guinea pig. Also her kids usually eat Mexican, so it's a safe bet. Plus I really really like Mexican cuisine. Don't tell Steve, but we are having a very Mexican, and very soupy, week of dinners.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
4 oz can chopped green chilies
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (omitted by me)
1 tsp ground cumin
5 cups chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained (I couldn't find these, so just used plain)
3 cans (5 oz each) white chicken, drained (I cooked, cooled, and cubed chicken breast instead of buying the cans)
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (yummmmmmm)
2 tsp lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Crushed tortilla chips
Shredded MJ cheese or cheddar cheese (I used shredded Mexican because I always have that)

In a large saucepan, saute the onion in oil; add the chilies, garlic, jalapeno and cumin. Stir in the broth, tomato sauce, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; stir in chicken. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add the cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Top with chips and cheese. 7 servings (or in our case, 3 adults and 5 children, and 2 lunch-sized servings leftover)

This was quite flavorful, but not spicy at all. Probably because I left out the jalapeno. I think I am actually contemplating putting it in next time (what?? I know). Nathan & Emma just picked out the chicken, but all the other kids ate it all, and the grown ups liked it too. Another keeper!

Maple Cream Pie

I made this on Friday for home fellowship. At about 4 pm (home fellowship being at 6) while I was getting to the end of the recipe, I noticed this line: refrigerate overnight. Oops. So Emma and I prayed that the pie would not be soupy by the time we were going to eat it. Also we prayed that Miss Becky would have enough room in her fridge, which can sometimes be an issue because they have a big family and buy in bulk. Both prayers were answered with "yes." Phew. Emma did a lot of this recipe with me, which was fun. Usually she will start strong and get bored or distracted, but this one she helped me with from beginning to end. This is from the fall section of the Taste of Home seasons cookbook.

Maple Cream Pie
Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches) (when I went to the store they didn't have any Pillsbury pie crust, or the store brand. At Walmart or Hannaford. I was very concerned I was actually going to have to make pie crust, which I hate doing. But thankfully, I checked one last time before making this pie and they had gotten restocked!! Phew, again)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup milk, divided
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp maple syrup, divided (probably I should have used the real stuff, but I didn't)
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tbsp butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
sliced almonds, toasted

Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry; trim and flute edges. Line unpricked shell with double thickness of heavy duty foil; bake at 450 for 8 minutes. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on wire rack.

For filling, combine cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan. Stir in 1/2 cup milk until smooth. Gradually stir in the remaining milk and 3/4 cup maple syrup. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Stir in a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to the pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Gently stir in butter. Cool to room temperature without stirring.

In a chilled small bowl (or your Tuppeware Quick Chef Pro), beat cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold 1 cup cream into cooled filling; spoon into crust. Fold remaining 1 tbsp syrup into remaining cream; frost top of pie. REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT (hee hee). Garnish with toasted almonds. Refrigerate leftovers. 8 servings.

So I guess this was okay, but it wasn't very maple-y. I bet it would have been more flavorful if it had been real syrup. I don't think many of the kids liked it, but that's okay, I'm used to that. If I always made what kids would like, I would only make cookies. And that would be boring. I love making my home fellowship peeps be my dessert guinea pigs =o)

Garlic and Onion Focaccia

Basically this is pizza without a red sauce. This recipe is near the beginning of the Taste of Home seasons cookbook I've been working through, and I've had it marked for a while, but I kept going by it, thinking it wouldn't be good for a meal, and I would have to save it for some event where we needed an appetizer. But then I just thought, what the hay, I'm going to make it. So I did. We had one of those bagged Caesar salads to go with it, and it was actually a great meal.

Garlic and Onion Focaccia
1 cup water (70-80 degrees)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp butter
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

In a bread machine pan, place the first 6 ingredients in the order suggested by your manufacturer (not your ACTUAL manufacturer, which would be God or your parents. They mean your bread machine's manufacturer). Select dough setting. When cycle is completed, turn dough onto floured surface. Roll into 12-inch circle. Transfer to 14-inch pizza pan coated with cooking spray. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

While dough is rising, in large skillet cook the onions and garlic in butter over medium heat for 15-20 minutes (definitely use 2 onions...I only used 1 because it looked like so much in the pan, but they reduced a LOT and then it didn't seem like enough topping on the final product), or until onions are golden brown, stirring frequently.

With the end of a wooden spoon handle, make indentations in dough at 1-inch intervals. Top with onion mixture and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire rack. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

Steve, Sam, and I all LOVED this. Nathan and Emma both cried (real actual tears) when I said I was making onion pizza for supper. So I didn't even try it on them. They had "Blue Box Blues" and had Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (remember that commercial?). This was so good and definitely one I will make again.