Tortilla Soup

It is grey, rainy, and chilly outside - definitely a week to have something warm and comforting! After reading the blog Meal Planning Mommies, I was inspired to make Tortilla Soup. Although the recipe they had on their site looked good, I was looking for something a bit more complex so I googled and found this recipe on AllRecipes (great because I could scale the recipe for 12 - yes, I know there are only 10 of us).

Ingredients
1-1/2 onion, chopped
4-1/2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon chipotle powder
1-1/2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1-1/2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed chicken broth
1-3/4 cups and 2 tablespoons water
1-1/2 cups whole corn kernels, cooked
1-1/2 cups white corn kernals (the original called for hominy)
1-1/2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers
1-1/2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
chopped green onions

Directions
1 - In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
2 - Stir in corn, chiles, beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3 - Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, and chopped green onion.

Taco Salad - MN Style

We recently bid adieu to the husband of a Fearless Foodie. It is both sad and exciting at the same time - and it also provided an opportunity to cook (of course)! I made a Taco Salad that my mother and aunts make for summertime parties back home in MN. I say it's MN style, but maybe it's not as regional as I think. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it!

The portions used make enough for Brett and I to enjoy this for lunch plus a snack for him. Granted, this is one of his all-time favorites, so he eats A LOT of it. Everything really is "to taste", so feel free to experiment. It seems to change everytime I make it.

Basic Ingredients
Lettuce - I like romaine for this
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 bottle of low-fat french/catalina-style dressing
1 1/2 packages low-sodium taco seasoning
Shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips

Fancy Ingredients - not required, just nice to add
Sliced black olives
Corn
Black beans
Tomatoes - chopped
Chopped onions

Directions
1 - Place ground turkey in a skillet, add 1/2 package of taco seasoning, fully cook the turkey while breaking it up into smaller pieces. When cooked through, drain and rinse with cold water.
2 - Wash and chop lettuce, place in large bowl.
3 - Add cheese to bowl and mix with lettuce.
4 - Gently crush tortilla chips in the bag (we actually save the last bits of our tortilla chip bags for this purpose - stale chips are not a problem for the salad), remove the chips from the bag (don't pour it directly on the salad because you'll get a ton of unneccessary salt) and place them in the bowl with the lettuce and cheese. Mix.
5 - Add the remaining taco seasoning to the bowl and mix.
6 - Add the cooled ground turkey to the bowl... and mix.
7 - Pour about 1/2 of the bottle of salad dressing into the bowl and... you guessed it, mix thoroughly. I often resort to using my hands at this point because it becomes a bit unruly/messy.
8 - Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary. I often find that I may need to adjust the basic ingredients, but it is not often that I adjust the fancy ingredients.

Note: This is not really good left over because the lettuce and tortilla chips will wilt and become soggy. Brett is a freak of nature and is happy to eat it the next day although sometimes he adds fresh chips.

Sausage Casserole

This is a dish that my mom made all the time when I was growing up. It's really easy and good comfort food.

1 package Bob Evans sausage

6-8 potatoes (whatever kind you like)

1/2-1 bag frozen peas

3/4 c. milk

6 Tbsp butter

1/2 c. flour

salt and pepper

Brown meat. While this is cooking, peel (if desired) and slice potatoes. When meat is ready, begin layering in a dutch oven: one layer of potatoes, sprinkle with flour, salt and pepper, then one layer of sausage. Repeat until ingredients are used completely. Leave enough room on top for peas later on. Top entire composition with butter cut into individual tablespoons and pour milk over entire pot. Put into a 375 degree oven, covered, for about 35 minutes. Lift top and pour peas into pot. Recover. Cook until peas are warmed through and potatoes are soft. Mix up and serve!

I hope you all enjoy this recipe! It's good served with a simple green salad. :)

Spinach Dip with Feta, Lemon and Oregano

I made this dip last night for "Zach's Last Hurrah" as he is heading to Memphis tomorrow afternoon to begin a new and exciting adventure at the University of Tennessee! Zach--you will be missed!
I think the Dip was gone in about 5 minutes so I think people enjoyed it... here is the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 (10 oz.) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup lite sour cream
1/2 cup lite mayonnaise
1/4 cup dried parsley or 1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 T fresh oregano or 1 T dried oregano
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3 medium scallions
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Tabasco
1/4 tsp pepper


Process all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place in refrigerator for at least one hour to allow flavors to marinate. Serve with chips!

Tobagoan Corn Soup - Added Chef's Note

While Brett and I were in Tobago our housekeeper made dinner for us and it was amazing. One of the best parts was the corn soup. Corn soup is a traditional Trinidad & Tobago food but when searching for a recipe online I didn't find any with the ingredients she had used. So, I took a few recipes online and mixed them up with the ingredients I knew she had used. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. For those able to imbibe, I encourage you to enjoy it with a very chilly beer. I didn't take a picture of the food, but here's a beach picture in case that helps to enjoy the food more!

Chef's Note: This ended up being considerably more spicy the day after, so maybe a few less "flavor" peppers would do the trick. It's a good thing I didn't add the serrano that many recipes called for! Oh, and that means this should be enjoyed with not one, but two icy cold beers.

Ingredients

- 1 1/2 tbsp butter

- 3 onions, chopped

- 4 bell peppers, chopped

- 1 poblano pepper, chopped

- 1 mild chili, chopped

- 5 cloves of garlic, minced

- 4 cans no-salt added cream style corn

- 2 cans sweet corn

- 2 cans light coconut milk

- 16 oz vegetable broth

- 1 can water (I rinsed the bottom of the cream corn cans out)

- 1 tbsp turmeric

- 1/2 tsp chipotle seasoning

- 3 sprigs thyme - no need to remove the leaves they will cook off

- 4 bay leaves

- salt

- pepper

- seasoning (I used some purchased in Tobago, but a jerk seasoning would work)

Directions

1) Melt the butter in the bottom of a large stock pot (thanks, Molly!)

2) Add the onions and saute until almost translucent

3) Add the garlic and peppers and saute until soft

4) Add the remainder of the ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer

5) Simmer for at least a half hour

6) Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs

7) Scoop out about 3 cups of the soup mixture and place aside

8) Using an immersion blender, blend the remaining soup until smooth. Just a side note, I do not recommend blending hot foods in a normal blender... it explodes. :)

9) Return the soup that was set aside to the pot and stir thoroughly

10) Ladle into bowls and serve with corn muffins (slathered in butter)

Makes about 16 1-cup servings. This freezes well, too.

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

For Christina's birthday we went to a local Hibachi restaurant not only for the food, but also for the show! We had a great time and Brett took home the longest Saki shot award with 42 seconds! We concluded the evening with these yummy cupcakes--very Hibachi right?

Ingredients
cupcakes

* 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 very ripe large bananas, peeled
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 large egg
* 1 large egg yolk

frosting

* 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
* 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground)
* Chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts (optional)

Preparation
CUPCAKES

* Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Mash bananas with fork in another medium bowl until smooth. Mix sour cream and vanilla into bananas.
* Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with banana-sour cream mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until blended after each addition. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups (generous 1/4 cup for each).
* Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of each comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack and let cool completely.

FROSTING

*Sift powdered sugar into large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes, dividing equally. Sprinkle lightly with chopped peanuts, if desired. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

www.bonappetit.com

Farfalle with Caramelized Onions, Sugar Snap Peas and Ricotta Cheese

My parents came to visit this weekend and this seemed like the perfect recipe to bridge the cold winter months into the warm summer months ahead of us. After making it for them, I knew it would be a good dish to share!

Bon Appetit, June 2009
Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 4 cups (packed) chopped onions
* 1 8-ounce package trimmed sugar snap peas, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 1 8-ounce package orecchiette (little ear-shaped pasta) or Farfalle pasta
* 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
* 1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
* 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

Preparation

*Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions. Sauté until onions are pale golden, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; sauté onions until tender and deep golden, about 15 minutes longer. Add 1/8 cup sugar to enhance the caramelization process and cook for 1-2 minutes more.Add peas to onions in skillet. Sauté until peas are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
*Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.
* Add pasta and 1/2 cup cooking liquid to onion mixture; stir over medium-high heat 30 seconds. Mix in ricotta, basil, and lemon peel, adding more cooking liquid to moisten as needed. Season with salt and pepper.