Matzo Balls

Everyone has one of those family recipes that you want to make yourself but when you do it just never comes out the way your Mom or Grandmother makes it. Well today I was going to put an end to that problem I have with my Mom's matzo ball recipe.

This recipe isn't like the matzo balls you find at the diners or how most people make them. This is made using the whole matzo and not from a mix or from using just matzo meal.

Matzo Balls
makes about 20 balls

3 matzos
2 eggs
1 onion, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons Schmaltz (chicken fat, see note below) or vegetable oil, more as needed
dash of nutmeg
dash of ginger
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
matzo meal

1) Break the matzo up into pieces and then add enough hot water to cover them. Let them soak in the water for about 2-3 minutes. You just want to get to soften up a little bit but not to the point where they are water logged.


2) Drain the water and set aside.

3) Heat a frying pan over medium high heat and add the schmaltz/chicken fat. Wait until it is all liquid and then add the onions. You might need to add more fat to the pan if there isn't enough for the amount of onions you used.

4) You want to cook the onions until they brown but not burnt.


5) Once the onions are brown add the drained matzo to the frying pain. This is to dry them out a little bit. Stir and cook for about 4 minutes.

6) Transfer this mixture to a bowl add the dash of nutmeg, a dash of ginger, some salt and some pepper to taste. Stir to combine and also to break up the matzo a little bit more. Add the eggs and stir to combine (before you add the eggs make sure the mixture has cooled down a little bit so you don't cook them).

7) Now add enough matzo meal to the mixture so when you roll the balls they keep their shape. (It is just like adding bread crumbs when you make meatballs).


8) Once you have everything combined you are ready to roll your balls.


You can make them whatever size you like but remember they expand a lot when you cook them. My mom likes to make 1" balls.

9) Have your soup at a boil and drop the balls in...once they float to the top they are done cooking.


My mom has been making them ahead of time and freezing them. She cooks them in water with some chicken bouillon, drains them really well and then puts the cooked balls into a container in the freezer. She takes them out that morning lets them defrost a little bit and add them to the boiling soup just before serving.

Cooked balls that have been drained and getting ready for the freezer

Note: The schmaltz in this recipe isn't require but it does add a nice flavor. The way my mom gets her schmaltz is from the chicken soup she makes. It is the stuff that hardens on the top of homemade chicken soup after you put it in the refrigerator for a while. She just takes it off and saves it in a container in the freezer for later use.

Helpful Tip: Before you roll all your balls out and cook them...make a small one and taste it to make sure they are seasoned well and have enough salt and pepper. Adjust the seasoning if needed...once that is done then roll them all out.
Also this recipe is great for that one box of matzo you have leftover from last year.

Review: To me this is what a REAL matzo ball looks like and the taste doesn't compare to the other stuff. The onions add a nice flavor and texture to them. When made right they are not dense but light and sometime I would even say fluffy. This is comfort food for me because it doesn't get any better then a nice hot bowl of matzo ball soup!

Chicken and Dumplings the Semi-Homemade Way

We are big soup eater to begin with but once the temperature drops well we eat a lot more soup for dinner. Something just so comforting about a nice bowl of yummy goodness to make you warm and fuzzy inside. I realized I had a problem last week when I think most of the meals I planned or had in mind was soup/stew type recipes. So this week I have to try and not do that again...

The reason I decided to make this recipe below was because Mike came home from work one day and told me that the guys said this was a pretty good recipe. I just think it is kind of funny that a bunch of engineer/tech guys were talking about a soup like that...and well I had to see what they were talking about for myself.


Chicken & Dumblings
Sandra Lee, Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients
1 whole store-bought roast chicken (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 container (7 ounces) chopped onions
6 cans (14 ounces) low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 container (14 ounces) pre-cut carrot sticks, chopped
1 container (14 ounces) pre-cut celery sticks, chopped
1 roll (16.3 ounces) golden buttermilk biscuit
1 can (10.5 ounces) condensed chicken gravy

Directions

Remove skin from chicken and shred meat into large pieces. Set aside.

In a small frying pan, add vegetable oil and heat over medium heat. When oil is hot, add chopped onions and saute until soft.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, add broth, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, carrots, celery, and sauteed onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes to soften vegetables, and then add shredded chicken. Continue to simmer while making dumplings.

While stew is simmering, prepare dumplings. Open can and remove biscuits. On a lightly floured surface, roll each biscuit to 1/4-inch thick. With a knife, cut each biscuit into 4 pie-pieces. Set aside.

Skim surface for any scum that has risen to top. Stir in chicken gravy.

With the stew still simmering over low heat, stir in dumplings a few at a time. Once all dumplings are in to pot, cover with a tight fitting lid and cook for 10 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and serve piping hot.

Review: Overall this is a good recipe and I actually felt like I was eating some homemade chicken soup with all the stuff that was in it. I don't know why this bothers me but when a recipe calls for you to buy already cut up stuff. Just from a budget standpoint it just cost more then me buying a whole bag of carrots and doing it myself. It does save you a little bit of time and I will buy the already cut up mushrooms because those are a pain to cut up. When I cut up the biscuit dough at first I thought I did not have enough of them but as you can see in the pictures above the puff up a lot. Not sure I will make it again but Mike did take it to work the next day for lunch...so I know he liked it.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

Soon at Mike's office they will be having their annual Souper Bowl which is the Friday before the actually Super Bowl. What they do is have people bring in soups/stews and then the office votes on the best one. Every since Mike has told me about this I am in search of a recipe that would do well if I ever made something for it.

Another one of my goals for this year is to try some of those recipes I have put aside that I want to try. So I have a bunch of soup/stew recipes on the list that I thought could be Souper Bowl worthy...this was the first one I decided to try out this year.


Zuppa Toscana
allerecipes.com

1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage
1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth
6 potato, thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 bunch fresh spinach, tough stems

1.Cook the Italian sausage and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crumbly, browned, and no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2.Cook the bacon in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings with the bacon in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

3.Pour the chicken broth into the Dutch oven with the bacon and onion mixture; bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, and boil until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the heavy cream and the cooked sausage; heat through. Mix the spinach into the soup just before serving.


Review: I figured this would do well for an office full of men since it had sausage and bacon in it. Also another thing that i have heard that does well in this contest is something spicy which this recipe had with the red pepper flakes. I bought regular sweet Italian sausage and took them out of their casings because I could not find bulk sausage. I also only added about 1 tsp of red pepper flakes which was hot enough...so hot that Mike who adds red pepper flakes to everything did not add any to this soup. I also used regular milk instead of heavy cream because I did not have the cream in the house. All in all this was a tasty soup but did not get the nod for the contest...Mike said he needs to have it again. It really isn't something I would make often because for health reasons but I liked the taste of it and with a little bit of tweaking I can make it better...

Ham & Potato Soup in a Bread Bowl: Part 2

OK so I completed the bread bowl for this mean it was time to figure out what soup I was going to make to fill them. I just knew it has to be thick and creamy like clam chowder but I did not want to make clam chowder. So I did what I always do when I am looking for a recipe...I searched the Internet to see what I could find. The Ham & Potato soup is the number 1 soup on allrecipes.com with over 2500+ review. How can you go wrong making a recipe that has been reviewed that many times.


Ham & Potato Soup
allrecipes.com

3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Review: I now know why this had some many reviews because it is a very easy and very good soup. The best part is that it doesn't take that much time to make and will be great to make with leftover holiday ham. Mike really liked this soup and I think enjoyed eating out of a bread bowl. When I mentioned to him I was making the bread bowls this was the kind of soup he hoped I would make. The one is defiantly a keeper and since I used the milk I had I don't think it is as bad if you used whole milk or heavy cream. One thing I liked about the soup is that it really stayed hot and warmed your insides right up. A perfect soup for those cold winter nights that are coming our way!

Soup for Dinner...Italilan Wedding Soup

Over the weekend I was watching the Food Network (like I always do) and got the tail end of The Barefoot Contessa making a special dinner for her husband. I thought to myself that the Italian Wedding soup she made looked really tasty. I have seen recipes for this soup all over but never really thought about trying it until I saw hers. My mother-in-law also just happened to have a copy of The Barefoot Contesssa's new book which also had an amazing picture of the soup in it...so I had made up my mind to make it this week for dinner. Since lately my husband has been working late hours and I am in need of more recipes that are easy to reheat for him.

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients
For the meatballs:
3/4 pound ground chicken or turkey
1/2 pound chicken or turkey sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups homemade chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.


In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.

Review: I really enjoyed the flavors of this soup and would make it again. It took me about the same amount of time it states at the beginning of the recipe. The longest prep time for me was cutting all the veggies up for the soup part. I also used Turkey meat instead of chicken because I couldn't find chicken sausages but I thought it was tasty either way. I might actually use the meatball part in the future just for making regular meatballs...they smelled so good while baking in the oven!

Mulligatawny Soup for Dinner

This time of year I love to have soup for dinner...the heartier the better. There is just something so exciting about a nice hot and steamy bowl of goodness. So last night I tried a new recipe I found in a magazine at the doctors office. Well actually I found it in the magazine but when I got home I got it off their website. It is for Mulligatawny Soup from the Family Fun publication.

Mulligatawny Soup
from Family Fun Magazine

4 tablespoons butter (or 2 tablespoons olive oil)
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 apple, cored, peeled, and chopped
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped
1/2 cup flour
2 to 3 teaspoons curry powder
5 cups chicken broth
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
Salt and pepper
2 cups hot cooked rice

1. Melt the butter, or heat the oil, in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, green pepper, apple, and chicken, and sauté for about 15 minutes. Turn the heat to low.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and curry powder. Add the mixture to the pot, then stir and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes. Partially cover the pot and simmer the soup for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Add the salt and pepper to taste.

3. To serve, place about 1/4 cup of rice in a bowl and ladle the soup over the rice. Makes about 8 cups.

Review: As my husband and I like to say...this one is a keeper! It was really not that hard to make just takes a little time to cut up all the vegetables that go in it. The only thing I would change in the future is add a little more curry powder because I only added the minimum amount this time around. I didn't want it to be overwhelming the first time I made it but it does need a little extra something.

French Lentil Soup

Last night I didn't really now what to make for dinner because I thought I would have some Paul Dean leftovers for dinner. So to my sort of surprise Mike must have really liked the Paul Dean Goulash thing (I still need a good name for it because it isn't really goulash...maybe Slop or Mess or just Paul Dean but since it doesn't contain butter I don't think I could call it that) and took it to work 2 days in a row for lunch.

I decided to make lentil soup from scratch because I haven't done that in a while and I thought I would make that into a meal. I searched for a recipe just to get the correct amount of ingredients together. I came across this recipe which I thought was interesting and different from any type I made before.




French Lentil Soup
Bon Appétit December 2006
Makes 6 servings.

3 tablespoons extra–virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery stalks plus chopped celery leaves for garnish
1 cup chopped carrots
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
1 1/4 cups lentils, rinsed, drained
1 14 1/2–ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium–high heat. Add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic; sauté until vegetables begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Add 4 cups broth, lentils, and tomatoes with juice and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium–low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 35 minutes.

Transfer 2 cups soup (mostly solids) to blender and puree until smooth. Return puree to soup in pan; thin soup with more broth by 1/4 cupfuls, if too thick. Season with salt, pepper, and a splash of vinegar, if desired. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with celery leaves.

Review: I don't know how I feel about the taste of this dish yet because I didn't really eat it hot but what I did eat I thought was good. I made about 1 1/2 times the recipe because I wanted to use the full bag of lentils and not have a partial bag leftover. In terms of difficulty this recipe is very simple to make and not really time consuming...I would say about an hour from start to finish and half that time is waiting for the lentils to be done cooking. I would make it again and maybe next time add some sausage/hot dog to it. I would also love to make french bread to go with this recipe...lol.

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

So I recently joined America's Test Kitchen's Recipe Testing "club." The first recipe came this week and it happened to be a soup recipe, so thought this was perfect for another submission for January!

This "club" is great, because it gives you the opportunity to test recipes, but with no obligation - if you don't have time this week, you don't do it. If you have time, but can't give them a response within a week, then you do it a week later. It's perfect for me, cuz I don't know if I will have the time, but I love to cook, so it's fun for me.

Now I will say that Tomato Soup is definitely not my favorite soup and I'm not really sure that I've ever really had a cup or bowl before, but I remember my Gram having it way back in the day with some Saltines (I'll have to verify whether that is true or some made-up memory! haha), but I definitely know she likes it (she just had a cup of it this afternoon when she stopped over with Mom & Dad to see the 4 trees we took down =).

I don't know if the recipe will change from the testing recipe, but here it is:

Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup

Serves 6 to 8

The goal of this recipe was to create a velvety smooth and creamy tomato soup using only ingredients found in the pantry.

If half of the soup fills your blender by more than two-thirds then process the soup in three bathes. A hand blender can be used in place of a regular blender to blend soup directly in pot. Serve this soup with grilled cheese sandwiches or topped with croutons (recipe follows). Crushed tomatoes can be used in place of the whole tomatoes.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 small onion, chopped medium (about 3/4 cup)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (optional)
1 bay leaf
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes
2 teaspoons sugar
2 large slices good quality white sandwich bread, crusts removed, slices torn into 1-inch pieces
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Table salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Directions:

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes, if using; cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add bay leaf and tomatoes. Using spoon, press tomatoes against side of pot to release their juices. Stir in sugar and bread. Cook, stirring constantly, until bread is completely saturated and is starting to break down, about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer half of soup to blender and blend until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to large bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Rinse out Dutch oven and return soup to pot. Stir in chicken broth; bring soup to boil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve soup in individual bowls, sprinkling each portion with black pepper and chopped chives, and drizzling with olive oil.

There is also a recipe for Croutons, but I didn't make them, so the recipe is not included here (let me know if you are interested).

Review: I may actually be more of a fan of Tomato Soup than I thought! I really liked this, because I felt it was more healthy than opening a can of Cream of Tomato from Campbells. It was a nice and tasty soup for a cold winter day and I think the longer it cooked, the better it tasted. Here are some tips if you make the above, as I had a few comments to the ingredients and cooking style:
- Put in the onion with the olive oil and cook on medium, once the onion is near translucent, add the garlic and red pepper flakes in for 30 seconds. (The above directions caused me to burn the garlic. Soup still came out ok, but burned garlic is not usually a good thing.) Oh, I added an extra 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder to make up for some of the burned garlic I removed.
- I didn't have white bread (we eat whole wheat in my house), but I did have a frozen hoagie roll, so I trimmed off the crust and cut it up. It worked fine!
- Not sure if this is any other kind, but use whole PEELED tomatoes. Also, be careful when squeezing the tomato against the side of the dutch oven, as they may squirt!
- The recipe doesn't tell you what to do with the bay leaf before the soup goes in the blender, I removed it.
- Another suggestion is after the blender portion of the recipe, stick the soup in the crockpot.
- The chives are not necessary, but add a nice touch.

January Recipe: Classic French Onion Soup

One of my all time favorite soups is French Onion. I can't tell you when or where I had my first bowl, but I can tell you where to get my favorite soup. There's a little cafe in Cobleskill, NY, called Monks. The door is complete with a painted picture of a monk, but after that, the similarity ends. This little cafe is next to my favorite store, Wal-mart! Makes the trip even better. =) Monks makes a heavenly cup of French Onion soup and I am told one of the reasons it is sooooo good, is because they put Sherry in the soup! Needless-to-say, when Michelle came up with Soup for January's recipe, I knew what I wanted to try to make for myself.

There was an added bonus as I was able to cook the soup in my slow cooker, which meant not having to watch the stove and having a nice warm bowl on a Saturday afternoon. My recipe did not include Sherry, so I added it myself and while it doesn't quite match Monks, it was still a good cup o' soup!


Classic French Onion Soup
From: Easy Home Cooking - All New Slow Cooker cookbook

Ingredients:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 large yellow onions, sliced
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup sherry
3 cans (14 oz. each) beef (suggested: low sodium) broth
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 loaf French bread, sliced and toasted
4 oz. shredded Swiss cheese (or other preferred cheese)

Directions:
Melt butter in large skillet (I used my LeCrueset dutch oven) over high heat. Add onions; cook and stir 15 minutes or until onions are soft and slightly browned (do not burn!). Stir in wine and sherry.

Combine onion mixture, beef broth, thyme, salt, and Worcestershire in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 4-4.5 hours (my Rival crockpot only has LOW for 8 or 10 hours, this works fine as well!). Ladle soup into 4 individual bowls (I got some great french onion mini crocks or soup bowls at Christmas Tree Shops for $1 or $2 each!); top with toasted bread slice and cheese (suggestion: stick in the oven, if bowls are oven proof, or the microwave to ensure cheese melts - sliced cheese works as well). Serve and enjoy!

Review: I really enjoyed this recipe and would definitely make it again. I think I'll also experiment with the other recipes that are out there just trying to find one that is similar to Monks. Hope you enjoy this on a cold Winter day like me! =)

Kath's Jan pic'

I know this isnt a chili or a soup...but its close...I decided to make a yummy beef stew. I got the recipe from Kraft foods, and wow, it was so easy. The prep time was nothing...just cutting up the potato's, veggies and letting the meat marrinade. I didnt have a chance to try it last night..it didnt finish cooking until almost 8:30, but I gave some to my brother and he called and told me it was excellent!! I brought some in for lunch today, so I'll see for myself at lunch time. Heres the recipe:


Prep Time:15 min
Total Time:2 hr 15 min
Makes:8 servings, 1-1/4 cups each
3/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
2 lb. beef for stew, such as beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch chunks
6 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, chopped
3 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onions (about 1 large)
3 cups sliced carrots (about 6 medium)
1-1/2 lb. potatoes, peeled, cut into large chunks (about 4 cups)
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) beef broth
POUR dressing over meat in large resealable plastic bag. Seal bag; turn to evenly coat meat with dressing. Refrigerate 30 min. to marinate. Meanwhile, cook bacon in large saucepan on medium heat 5 min. or until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove bacon from saucepan; drain drippings.
ADD mushrooms and onions to same saucepan; cook on medium-high heat 10 min. or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove meat from marinade; discard marinade. Add meat, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, broth and bacon to saucepan; stir.
BRING to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 hour 15 min. Uncover; simmer an additional 15 min. or until meat is cooked through and sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.

Heidi's January Pick - Pasta e Fagioli

I'm so glad this months category was soup or chili. I've been waiting to make some kind of soup for a while. So looking for a recipe and I came across Pasta e Fagioli. I haven't had this in a long time so I decided to give it a try.


Pasta e Fagioli

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion (small onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 pound seashell pasta

1. Heat oil in 4 quart Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until onion is tender.

2. Add undrained tomatoes, undrained cannellini beans, chicken broth, basil and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Let boil for approximately 1 minute and then let simmer for 10 minutes, covered.

3. Add pasta to Dutch oven and simmer approximately 10 to 12 minutes or until pasta is tender.

My review: I must say this was a very tasty recipe. It was easy to make and took less the 30 minutes to make. A great quick dinner for those cold winter nights. Filling and mm mm good. The one thing I did different was used diced tomatoes instead of the stewed tomatoes. I also left out the fresh parsley, it didn't need it at all.

Hearty Bean & Barley Soup

I have to say one of the only reason I like the cold weather is the nice warm food you can make to heat yourself up. Of course the day I decide to make soup it is almost 60 degrees outside...and tomorrow it is suppose to be warm.

I was also inspired to make my January recipe after Jenn's party this past weekend. She has our monthly theme calendar printed and hanging on the refrigerator. I think almost everyone asked Jenn what the calendar was all about.


Hearty Bean & Barley Soup
From: Campbell's Kitchen
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 large carrots, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 stalks celery, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 1/2 cups Swanson® Vegetable Broth (regular or Certified Organic)
1 can (about 15 ounces) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/4 cup uncooked pearl barley
2 cups firmly packed chopped fresh spinach leaves
Ground black pepper


Directions:
1) Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery and onion. Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender.

2) Stir in the broth, beans, tomatoes and barley. Heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the barley is done.

3) Stir in the spinach and season to taste with black pepper. Cook until the spinach is tender.
Review: I like this recipe a lot because it has a simple ingredient list and it is a quick meal to put together. I added ABC pasta to it because I didn't feel that there was enough barley in the soup. I couldn't add anymore because it would have taken another 30minutes for the new barley to cook...I was also afraid that additional barley would soak up a lot of the liquid. My husband came home very late from work tonight and heated himself up 2 bowl fulls of the soup. He really liked this recipe and said that I should add this to the list. That it is up there with the Chili that I make a lot. Defiantly plan to make this again and again.

This Weather is Driving me Crazy!

The weather is really driving me crazy here in NY. One minute it is 80+ degrees and the next it is in the 60s...make up your mind mother nature. I just refuse to turn on the AC in OCTOBER!

Well lucky for me that it is now raining and cold because my husband request beef stew for dinner one night. It just wouldn't be the same yummy stew eating it when it is hot outside. I also wanted to try to make the below stew recipe for another reason. Mike informed me a month or so ago that his office has a soup/stew cook off challenge thing every year around the Superbowl...I even think they have a cheesy name for it like The Super Bowl...lol.

The recipe comes from Heidi (I don't know where she got it from) and ever since she made it my Mike has been asking for it. Mind you he never tried it but just the name alone had him drooling for it.

Beef and Guinness Stew
Ingredients:
2 lb boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1 cup Guinness or other Irish stout
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 or 2 fresh rosemary sprig

Instructions:
Pat beef dry. Stir together flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Add beef, turning to coat, then shake off excess and transfer to a plate.

Heat oil in a wide heavy pot over moderately high heat until just smoking, then brown meat in 3 batches, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes per batch, transferring to a bowl.

Add onion, garlic, and water to pot and cook, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot and stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in beef with any juices accumulated in bowl, broth, beer, Worcestershire sauce, and rosemary and bring to a simmer, then cover.

Cook a few hours on a low heat. I added some veggies to it the last hour and then some potatoes the last half hour.


Notes:
You might also want to add some corn starch or flour to thicken the stew.

Review: I really liked it and would defiantly make it again. I used a very large pot because it looked like a lot of meat and I wasn't sure of the amount it would yield. Next time I would use the smaller stock pot I have as the only thing I would do different. I added carrots, peas and potatoes at the end which were all great additions. I also used 1 whole can of the beer instead of the 1 cup...since it was mid-afternoon I didn't feel like finishing the beer.