Minestrone Soup for the Soul

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I love, love, love soup!! I could eat it every single day, even in the summer time. Minestrone is one of my all time favorites and this recipe is really excellent!! With all of the fresh herbs and vegetables it just makes me all warm and happy inside!!

Minestrone Soup for the Soul

About an hour                         Serves about 8 bowls

Ingredients

3 tbls. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 onions, chopped

2 cups chopped celery 

3 carrots, sliced

3 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

4 cups tomato sauce

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 bag fresh green beans

1 bag baby spinach, rinsed

2 zucchinis, halved and sliced

1 tbls. chopped fresh oregano

2 tbls. chopped fresh basil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 box Ditalini pasta

2 tbls. grated Parmesan cheese for topping 

1 tbls. olive oil

In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots, saute for 1 to 2 minutes. 

Add chicken stock, water and tomato sauce, bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, green beans,  spinach leaves, zucchini, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, the longer the better. 

Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook until tender. Drain water, drizzle with Olive Oil and set aside. Stir the pasta every 10-15 minutes so the pasta doesn't stick together. 

Once the pasta is cooked and the soup is heated through, place a few spoon fulls of pasta into individual serving bowls. Ladle the soup on top of the pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and serve. 

Once the pasta and the soup have cooled you can add the pasta to the soup and refrigerate immediately  This should stop the pasta from soaking up too much of the liquid when added to the soup. 

Guest Blog - Chianti Chicken by Brian Sparks

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Guest Blog by Brian Sparks aka "Sparky"
Brian has been a dear family friend for longer than I wish to say! (Don't want to age myself too much!) I hope you enjoy this recipe that he was so gracious to share. Sounds like a winner to me and I can't wait to cook it up! Enjoy! And make sure you do as he says and "finish that bottle"!!!

Chianti Chicken – A great dish to make as an excuse to drink.
When Erin sent out the call for recipes to include on her blog, I immediately asked my wife, "What's the best dis you think I make?" I wasn't surprised when her answer was indeed what I was already thinking..."Chicken Chianti!"

Now, I love making this dish, because not only is it easy to make, it’s a great excuse to drink a bottle of Chianti while you make the dish….and then open up another bottle of whatever you want to drink during dinner. Any dish that requires wine as one of its ingredients is a dish that’s begging to be made.

Ingredients:
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves (crushed or chopped)
A few sprigs of thyme (chopped)
2 large or 4 medium size chicken breast halves (use bone-in for best flavor)
1 medium/large red onion (depends on how much onion you like)
3 tablespoons of tomato pesto (if you can’t find this, just get regular pesto and combine together(1 to 1) with some sun dried tomato paste
1 ¼ cups of Chianti (leave the remaining chianti for you to drink)
1 ¼ cups of water
1 bunch of seedless red grapes (with ¾ of them cut in half)
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Arugula leaves (if desired)

Directions:        

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil into a large pan and add the chicken breast, garlic, and thyme.

 Sauté over over medium heat for 5 minutes until each side is golden brown.

Remove the chicken and place on a separate plate for now. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil into the same pan. Cut the onion in half and create thin wedges. Add the onion wedges and pesto into the pan.

Cook gently and stir constantly for about 3 minutes until onion is soft but not browned.

 

Add the Chianti and water to the pan and bring to a boil.

Place the chicken back into the pan, reduce the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and cover the pan. Simmer for about 20 minutes while stirring occasionally until chicken is tender and cooked through.

Add the grapes to the pan and cook over low heat until heated through. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve hot. If you wish to balance the “sweetness” of the dish, you can always garnish with some arugula leaves to add some bitterness.

That’s It! Enjoy…and make sure you finish that bottle.

Lemon Bars

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This is a favorite!! I have a side job and the owner loves lemon anything so I decided to make these for him last Christmas. He loved them!! I have two lemon trees. When they get too full I make lemon bars. It is not required but fresh lemon juice is always the best to use. And if you have home grown lemons, even better!!

Lemon Bars
Crust:
2 Stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar, (I use bakers sugar when baking, it is finer and dissolves quicker)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream the butter and sugar together. Combine the flour and salt and add slowly to the butter/sugar mixture until well combined. Dough should be crumbly. Pour the loose crust dough into a 9x13 baking pan. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the pan, building up a 1/2 inch(I tend to make it as high as 3/4 inch, otherwise the filling will get inbetween the pan and the crust and burn) edge on all sides. Bake crust for 15 - 20 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool on wire rack. Leave the oven on.

Filling:
6 extra large eggs at room temperature, yes, they must be extra large eggs!
3 cups sugar
2 tbls. grated lemon zest
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 6-8 lemons)
1 cup flour

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and slowly add the flour or it will clump. Pour over the crust and bake 30 - 35 minutes until the filling is set. Let cool, this is the hardest part. I put it in the fridge for two hours and it was still warm. It will make it a mess to cut, so just be patient. Cut into desired size and dust with powdered sugar. I like to cut them to fit into cupcake wrappers.

NOLA Style Bloody Mary Mix

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Ever since I went to New Orleans I have been a Bloody Mary snob. When you get one there it is beyond spicy and tangy. I will make you want to "Slap yo momma!" Before returning home I bought a bottle of it thinking that I could just get more online. No such luck! They stopped shipping it!! I know right?! How could they?!?!! So I went to task at preparing my home. Perfecting it took some time but I did it. Below is the recipe to make a small batch. When I make them at home, I get all my canning supplies out and I make about 12 jars of the stuff. I cook mine to make sure all the flavors are well mingled but you can just prepare a small batch without going through that whole process. I gave it out last two Christmas's ago with a jar of my own pickled green beans as gifts. It was such a hit, I have to spend a whole day every few months making more of it. It is in demand!! So here ya go!! Enjoy!!!

Bloody Mary Mix

6 cups Tomato Juice

3 tbls. Lemon Juice, (fresh preferably)

3 tbls. Lime Juice, (again fresh is best! but not necessary)

1 tbls. Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp. Horseradish, (prepared, not creamed) (more if you REALLY like it, no more than 2 tsp.)

1 tsp. Tabasco Sauce (I go heavy on this ingredient, I love it tangy and spicy!!)

Celery Salt and Pepper, rim the glass and sprinkle on top of finished drink)

Serve over ice with a few ounces of vodka and with as much accouterments as you like. I prefer pickled greens beans or pickled okra.

Broccoli Beef!!!

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This recipe came to me in an email from AllRecipes.com. I tweaked it a tiny bit. I just love Asian foods. If you know me, know that! Everything from Chinese, Pho, Japanese and Thai! I LOVE IT ALL!! The thing is those aren't the easiest things to make at home. A lot of it seems to be secret. I can never get my Hot and Sour Soup to taste like it does at Mandarin Gourmet. I don't like using those packets or bottles of premade sauce. I mean what's the secret to that?! So when I made this last night and it tasted just like I thought it should I was oh, so happy!!  I served mine over white rice and an eggroll on the side. It was so good!


Broccoli Beef
30 Minute Meal                      15 Minutes Prep, 15 Minutes Cook Time             Serves 4
1/3 cup Oyster Sauce
2 tsp. Sesame Oil
1/3 cup Sherry
1 tsp. Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Cornstarch
2 tbls. Sriracha Sauce
8 Dried Chiles, broken into pieces
1 lb. beef round steak, cut into 1/8 inch thick strips, put in medium size bowl.
3 tbls Vegetable Oil
3 thin slices of Fresh Ginger
3 cloves Garlic, peeled and smashed
1 lb. Broccoli, cut into florets

1. Start your rice. Whisk together the oyster sauce, sesame oil, sherry, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and sriracha sauce in a bowl. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the oyster sauce mixture over the meat and coat well. Marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

2. Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and garlic. Let them sizzle in the oil for about 1 minute. Here is a deviation. The recipe said to take the ginger and garlic out. I didn't. Do what you're comfortable with. Stir in the broccoli and stir in the oil until bright green and almost tender, 5-7 minutes. Remove the broccoli from wok and set aside.

3. If you need a little oil, add some. Add the marinated beef until the sauce forms a glaze and the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Return the broccoli to the wok and stir until well mixed, about 3 minutes.

Finger Lickin' Fried Chicken

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Fried Chicken is one of my husbands favorites. He asks for it on his birthday and anytime that I ask what to make for Sunday Dinner. This recipe is easy and very flavorful. It might sound a bit weird to make it with hot sauce, especially the quantity, but it's delicious and it is not spicy at all. I repeat, it's not spicy!!! I personally don't like bone or skin with my chicken so I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts and the breading actually stays on!! This is also great to do for chicken tenders!

Finger Lickin' Fried Chicken

30 minutes to Coat                     45 minutes to Fry                    About 8 pieces of chicken

Ingredients

3 cups Self Rising Flour

Salt and Pepper

1 cup Crystal Hot Sauce (or your favorite Louisiana Style Hot Sauce)

2 eggs

Chicken (thighs, drumsticks, breasts - whatever you like)

Peanut Oil

1. In a big bowl add flour and season it heavily with salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, add the eggs and hot sauce and whisk until well mixed.

2. Dry the chicken with a paper towel. The best way to go is to have a "wet" hand and a "dry" hand. Other wise both your hands are caked! I get a station going and move right to left. Coat the chicken well with flour, then coat well with egg/hot sauce mixture, and back to flour mixture. Make sure you coat extremely well. I like to put the chicken on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, them I put a coat of flour down for the chicken to soak up. There will be some  bits of flour that get wet and stay in the flour bowl, try to get those to stick to the chicken. That is Matt's favorite, he calls them the finger drippings. Also, I like to sprinkle more flour on the chicken on the baking sheet. The chicken will become a tad wet again and will soak it up.

             (If you are doing a lot of chicken and run out of flour or egg mixture, you can 

              just add another cup of flour, or another egg and more hot sauce)

3. For frying the chicken you want your oil HOT!! About 350 degrees. I don't have a pot with the thermometer on it, if you do, use it. I sprinkle some water into the oil and when it starts popping, it is ready to go. You are going to want at least an inch and a half of oil. It should go about half way up you chicken. Place the chicken in the oil with tongs. You want to do this slowly and start with the edge of the piece closest to you, working away from you to avoid splatters.

4. Fry in batches. Overcrowding will reduce the heat of the oil and it will take forever. Drums take about 5 minutes per side per piece. The thighs and breasts will take about 7 minutes per side per piece. I heat the oven to about 170 degrees, place cooling racks in a roasting pan and place my chicken in there to keep warm while I continue with the rest of my batches.

Not Your Kids Macaroni and Cheese

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Who doesn't love Mac N' Cheese as a kid? But once you get older it's just not the same. You wish it were because how easy it is to make, but no, it's gritty and the second it's not hot it's time for the garbage!! Here is a great recipe for it. It takes a bit longer to make than the box kind but it is so worth it. This dish also is great reheated the next day!

Macaroni and Cheese
40 minute Side Dish           10 minutes prep, 40 minute cook time            Serves about 8
1 16 oz. box Elbow Macaroni (get the smaller kind, not large)
8 oz. Velveeta or Other "Cheese Food"
4 oz. Monterey Jack Cheese
4 oz. Muenster Cheese
4 oz. Sharp Cheddar
1 pint Half and Half
1/2 stick butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, heat water to boil and add pasta. While this is cooking, heat the half and half.
2. While waiting on the above, grate the Monterey Jack, Muenster and Sharp Cheddar. Cut the Velveeta into small pieces.
3. When the cream is hot, slowly add the Velveeta  Once it has all melted add the shredded cheeses slowly until well melted in.
4. When the noodles are almost cooked through, remove and add the butter to them mixing well. In a 2.5 quart baking dish add the noodles and then mix the cheese sauce into them. Bake for half an hour.