Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1/2 cup butter

1c diced carrots

1c diced celery

1c diced onions

3/4 c flour

6 c chicken broth

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp pepper or more

1 can cooked wild rice 15 oz. see picture below  

1/2 cup cooked jasmine rice

3 cups cubed cooked chicken approximate 3 small chicken breasts

Melt butter in a pan, add carrots, celery,and onions.  Cook until soft, 5-10 minutes

add flour, cook a couple of minutes to cook the flour taste out.  It will be thick. 

Slowly add chicken broth whisking as you add the broth to prevent lumps.

Add salt, gr mustard, curry powder, parsley and pepper. Stir to mix in.

Add both rice and chicken. cook 5-10 mins simmer to blend the flavors. 

If it is too thick you can add more chicken broth to your consistency.

*** if you cant find cooked canned wild rice, then use 1 1/2 cup cooked wild rice.  you just want a total of 2 cups cooked rice in the soup. you could omit the jasmine rice and just use 2 cups cooked wild rice soup.

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 butter with carrots, celery and onions

I added the flour and it gets pretty thick

add the chicken broth

soup is done

This is the wild rice i found canned.  sometimes it is hard to find. It is really quick and easy to use it already cooked.

Orange Salad

 ORANGE SALAD

2 packages 3 oz orange Jello

2 packages tapioca pudding cook and serve

1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges

1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapples

1 large can fruit cocktail (optional if you don't like this you can add other fruit)

2 cups heavy whipping cream

Make tapioca on stove top with 2 1/2 cup milk, set aside

Make Jello with Juice of pineapple and mandarin oranges and hot water to equal 2 1/2 cups 

Mix cooked tapioca pudding and Jello together, add drained fruit. Mix until combined.

Refrigerate until almost set.

whip 2

 cups heavy whipping cream until thick.  Fold into cooled Jello.

Refrigerated a couple hours until set. 

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Classic Baked Corn Pudding

1/2 cup butter 

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

4 cups milk (1 quart)

6 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (8 oz)

2 bags (12 oz each ) frozen corn, thawed, drained

2 Tbls parsley flakes

3/4 cup plain bread crumbs (i used panko)

3 Tbls butter, melted

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish or 3-quart casserole with cooking spray.

In 4-quart Dutch oven, melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Stir in milk. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened. Gradually stir in eggs and cheese. Stir in corn and parsley. Pour into baking dish.

In small bowl, mix bread crumbs and 3 tablespoons melted butter; sprinkle over corn mixture.

Bake uncovered 55 to 65 minutes or until mixture is set and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

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Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

24 regular oreos

3 TBLS melted butter

4 (8ounce) packages of cream cheese, room temperature

1 cups white sugar

1 tsp vanila

1 cup sour cream

6 oz Baker's square semi sweet chocolate, melted

4 eggs, room temperature

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

Crush cookies in food processor or ziplock bag, mix in melted butter.

press the cookie crumbs on bottom of 13x9  lightly greased pan and I line mine with parchment paper that has been lightly greased.  

Bake 350 for 10 mins, let cool

In large mixing bowl cream the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla 

add sour cream

add melted chocolate. Stream it in the cream cheese mixture while the mixer is on and it will blend it evenly.

Then add the eggs, one at a time and the mixer is on. 

bake 350 for 15 mins, then turn the heat down to 250 for 1 hour and 30 mins.

Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the oven until the oven cools to room temperature. 

DON'T OPEN THE OVEN DOOR TO LOOK AT ANY TIME OR YOUR CHEESECAKE WILL CRACK.

once cooled, heat up the heavy cream in the microwave. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips in a bowl.  Let sit for a minute then mix with a spatula. 

once the chocolate is melted and smooth pour over the cheesecake.

Spread it with a spatula. 

let cool.

place and store in refrigerator. 

once cool, lift out with the parchment paper. Cut with a knife into squares. 

You can freeze these if you want. 

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Beef Stew

2 lbs stew meat

1 large onion, diced

6 cloves garlic 1 tbsp olive oil

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

2 bay leaves

8 cups beef stock 

1-2 cups diced carrots large chunks

1-2 cups diced celery

2-3 cups diced baby red potato skin on

Preheat oven to 250 degrees (you can also use stove top or crock pot)

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add stew meat and onions, cook for 5 mins.  Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add tomatoes, seasonings and 4-6 cups of the stock.  

Cover and cook in oven for 3 hours.  Remove pot from oven and place on stove top over medium low heat.

Add vegetables to the stew and add more beef broth if low.  Taste and re-season if needed.  Cover and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours.  If you want the stew to be thick, add a slurry of cornstarch and cold beef broth, then pour into the stew while it is boiling, stir then reduce heat to low.  

serve and enjoy

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These are the tomatoes I used. I had them in my pantry.  The diced tomatoes with green chilies gave it a subtle bite. it was good

Gnocchi, Sausage & Spinach Soup

Gnocchi, Sausage & Spinach Soup

1 yellow onion, diced

1 roasted red pepper, diced (I used homemade pickled ploblono peppers that had some heat to it, yum)

sea or Kosher salt and fresh black pepper

1 pound italian sausage ground like jimmy dean

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried basil

32 oz chicken broth

1 lbs gnocchi (store bought or make your own)

2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, rough chopped

3/4 cups half and half or heavy cream 

In a large pot brown sausage, onion, peppers, garlic and dried basil until cooked. If there is any grease to drain, do so.  I didn't have much grease.

Add chicken broth. 

simmer for 20 mins.

Add the gnocchi and spinach, cook until gnocchi float to the top, usually 3 minutes.

Add the half and half.

Enjoy.

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 These are my diced onions and homemade pickled peppers I added

 This is the soup before I added the half and half

This is the soup done. 

Yum, boy was it good.  It had a spiciness to it from the peppers, so if you used roasted red peppers it wont. It doesn't make a large batch. So you can make it to see if you like it.  If you like it, next time double the batch.

This is the kind of gnocchi I used.  It was OK, but I have made homemade gnocchi before.  Really not that hard, but much better. Either way, the soup is great!!

These are what gnocchi's look like if you aren't familiar with them. 

Ham and Potato Soup

HAM AND POTATO SOUP

3 Tbls butter

1/3 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped carrots

1/3 cup chopped onion

4 cups diced potatoes1 cup diced ham

4 cups chicken broth

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

5 Tbls flour

5 Tbls butter

2 cups milk

Directions

1. Melt butter in pot, add celery, carrots and onions and cook until soft.
2. Stir all but milk, flour and butter into pot. Boil then simmer 12-15 minutes, check tenderness of potatoes.
3. minutes before serving, melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and gradually add milk, stirring constantly over med heat until thick.
4. Stir mixture into pot.
5. Cook 10 minutes more.
6. Serve with shredded cheese, bacon bits and green onions if you want.

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