Inspired by my sweetheart, Bean with Bacon Soup

My boyfriend Doug told me he liked good old Campbell's Bean with Bacon Soup a lot. I said to myself, I can make it fresh and better, and I was right. I might tweek it next time and crisp up the bacon a little before adding it to the soup.

2 cups navy beans
water
6 slices uncooked bacon, diced
3 small carrots, minced
3 stalks celery, minced
1 onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 -4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (4 ounce) can tomato paste
1 dash ground red pepper
4 cups vegi broth
4 cups water with 2 packets Goya Ham Stock
1 tsp red wine vinegar
7 drops liquid smoke
pepper

Soak beans overnight and discard water.

Place all ingredients EXCEPT wine vinegar, liquid smoke and pepper in a large kettle.

Simmer until beans are tender, around 3 hours.

Puree 2 cups of soup and return to pot.

Add wine vinegar and liquid smoke.

Mix well.

Taste; add pepper to taste.

I didn't add salt, since there is bacon, vegi stock and ham flavor

 

truely old school: Borscht

I found this twist on traditional Borscht, and just love it. Omit the sour cream if you want to keep it kosher.

3 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
4 bay leaves
2 quarts beef stock
2 large onions, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 medium fresh beets, roasted, peeled and shredded
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 small can tomato paste
juice of 1 lemon
1 handful fresh dill, minced
1 handful fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream to serve

Heat oven to 425. Scrub and trim beets. Slit peels in several places. Wrap in tin foil. Roast for 45 minutes. Put in large plastic ziplock bag and seal. Allow to steam in the bag for one hour. Rub beets roughly with paper towels to peel. Shred with food processor or a box shredder. (Do this while the soup is cooking)

In a large pot, heat the oil on high for 30 seconds, add the beef and bay leaves and sautee  until browned. Pour in stock and reduce heat.

Add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Simmer on low for 2 hours. Do not let soup boil. Add the beets and cabbage and cook for another hour.

Spoon in tomato paste and sprinkle lemon juice in. Add a little hot water if soup is too thick. Stir in parsley and dill. Taste, season with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls topped with sour cream with crusty bread.

Grilled flank steak and fab twice baked potatoes (with BACON)

I was thinking comfort food for the USC football game, steak and potatoes right? As always, I threw a few twists in :) The combo of regular baking potato and sweet potato is lucious, and throw bacon in? Oh yeah!!

Flank Steak

1 lb flank steak, trimmed and room temp
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp grill seasoning (I used McCormick Montreal Steak)
1 tsp Worcestershire pepper blend

Mix spices, use half on one side.

Heat grill or grill pan medium high. Place steak seasoned side down, rub remaining spices on exposed side. Grill 4 minutes on each side. Place in hot (425 degree) oven for 8-10 minutes until done.

Polly's Twice baked potatoes
makes 6 servings

2 large russet potatoes
1 large sweet potato
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup crumbled bacon
2 tsp butter
pepper and salt to taste

Wash and pierce potatoes, wrap in foil, bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Cut potatoes in half, scoop out almost all potato with a spoon, leaving a "boat"
Mash potatoes, cheese, bacon and butter in a bowl until smooth, add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon back into potato skins and return to oven (already hot from steak) for 15 minutes until cheese is melted and everything is hot through.

Chicken with lemon and olives with amazing yellow rice

OK, I admit it, I am a fan of Dr. Oz. Yesterday he had Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra on, aka the New Age Triumvirate. I did pick up a few things, including their idea for the perfect anti-dementia spice blend. Theirs was 1 part turmeric, 2 parts dried sage and 3 parts ginger. Well, I hate sage, so I dumped it for this rice. This cut the sodium in a boxed rice mix by so much its crazy! The chicken is an old, and east favorite. I served with zucchini.

Chicken with lemon and olives

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut in half, pounded to 1/4 inch thick
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp flour
1/2 white onion, diced fine
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine (I used a pinot)
1 and 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 hands full green olives with pimentos
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 1/2 lemon
4 lemon slices

Heat skillet over medium high, add oil. Dust pounded chicken with flour. Sautee on both sides until lightly browned. Place in warm oven.

Add onion and garlic to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze with wine, cook for 2 more minutes. Add broth and turn up to high heat until boiling hard. Add zest, juice and olives. Cook until reduced by half. Add back chicken and juices. Serve over rice, top with lemon slice and sauce.

Yellow Rice, my way

1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp ground ginger

Rinse rice and add to broth and salt, add spices. Bring to a boil, reduce to low and cover. Cook for about 18 minutes until cooked through. This is good with almost anything!! I will be making chicken and rice soup with the leftover!

Nothing to do with food!

If you know me, you know music is one of the most important things in my life. My "big brother" Bobby's band Weaving the Fate is about to drop their national debut. They are amazingly talented, and I am blessed to have Bobby Dread in my fambly. If they come to your town, do yourself a favor and see them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCShIZRig7c

Old Fashioned YUMMY!

How many ways are there to make chicken? Probably as many as there are chicken and road jokes. I was intrigued by this one when I saw the Hellman's ad in Southern Living. I had to try it. And what goes best with sort of fried chicken? Mac n Cheese! I threw in some broccoli to make it all "healthy"

Oven Fried Cheesy Chicken

1/2 cup Hellman's (I used the reduced fat kind with Olive Oil)
1/4 cup Parmesan
1 1/2 cups italian Panko (or regular italian breadcrumbs)

Heat oven to 425
Mix mayo and cheese, dredge chicken in the mixture, then roll in bread crumbs. Place in baking dish (sprayed with Pam) Bake for about 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.


Polly's Mac n Cheese

1/2 box elbow macaroni (or other small pasta)

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup skim milk
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup shredded mozzarella
3 cups shredded SHARP cheddar
pepper

Oven to 425
Over medium heat on stove:
Melt butter, whisk in flour to make a roux, let cook for 2 minutes, whisk in mustard and garlic. Add cream and whisk to incorporate. Whisk in broth, let cook for 2 minutes. Add skim milk and whisk final time. Add the cheeses, 1 cup at a time stir constantly until smooth and blended. Add pepper and stir.

Add a small about to baking dish to cover bottom. Add cooked, drained pasta (I under cook by 1 minute) Carefully stir in remaining cheese until it is totally mixed. Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes until very bubbly and brown.

Mangia!!

Serious taste of fall

Roasted, Curried Butternut Squash Soup

This is a family favorite! If you want to make it totally vegan, use vegi stock and soy milk.

1 large butternut squash
1 small butternut squash
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp fresh curry powder

4 cups chicken broth
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup half and half (I always use organic, but that's just me)
low fat Greek yogurt

Heat oven to 400
Slice squash down the middle and seed. Clean and toast seeds if you want. Place squash in a baking dish, spread with olive oil and sprinkle curry all over. Roast for one hour uncovered and 30 minutes with foil on top. Let cool totally. I cover mine tightly with the foil and refrigerate overnight.

Carefully peel away outer peel and dice squash into 1 inch cubes
Place in soup pot with broth/stock to cover and garlic. Bring to a boil. Puree in the pot with an immersion blender, or transfer carefully to a food processor in batches. When all the lumps are blended out return to burner and heat to a low boil. Add remaining broth to make a thick soup. Add half and half and cook for 1 minutes. Ladle into shallow bowls and top with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Chili and Potatoes, can you ask for more?

I get to this point in September, and I am ready for fall! Certain meals, like chili, scream fall to me. One reason I like chili is its easy and simple to make your own. This time, I used leftover homemade tomato soup, but try this one over a hot baked potato, topped with cheddar cheese.


2 pounds ground beef (I use 93/7)
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 cup tomato juice
1/2 large onion, diced
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin

Mix everything together in a crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours.

Ladle over hot baked potatoes and top with lots of sharp Cheddar cheese. 

Chicken Picatta, minus tons of fat and sodium

This is one of my classics, people ask for this! I love Chicken Picatta, I used to order it all the time, but it was always so This time I decided to add artichoke hearts, another favorite. Serves 4

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut in half
1 egg
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 cups panko
1 cup grated Parmesan

2 cups reduced fat, low sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine (or use more broth)
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 shallot, sliced very thin and chopped
8 baby artichoke hearts chopped
2 tbsp capers, drained
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp dijon
zest of one lemon
fresh ground pepper

Trim and halve the chicken, place under parchment and pound out until almost totally flat. Whisk egg and mustard, mix panko and cheese. I put each mixture in a pie pan to make things simple. Dredge chicken in egg than panko, place oil in large hot skillet, followed by chicken. Cook on each side for 3 minutes. Chicken will be ready to flip when it releases cleanly. When chicken is finished, remove from the pan and keep warm. (I pop into a 100 degree oven)

Deglaze pan with wine, cook for 2 minutes, add broth. Wisk in mustard. Add garlic and shallots. Cook until reduced by half, about 6 minutes. Add lemon juice, zest, capers and artichokes. Let cook for another 2-3 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken breasts.

I served this with rice pilaf and zuchinni. Most of the time, I simply place it on a bed or orzo and spoon lots of sauce over it.

New Chicken Casserole (with lots of vegis)

On Thursday night, I didn't feel like cooking so takeout was the order of the day. I ended up with Chicken and Asparagus Lasagne, and it was heav and gloppy, tasting only of beschemel sauce. I decided I could do better! Don't worry about using the cream soups, this makes 8 servings, at least. I'm hoping even my non-vegi loving honey will like this!

1 can Cream of Asparagus soup
1 can Cream of Onion soup
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp poultry seasoning
3 tbsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper (lots of pepper)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
1/2 can artichoke hearts, sliced
3/4 lb asparagus chopped
1/2 box bow tie pasta ( I got the kind with added protein)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup extra sharp cheddar, finely grated

Preheat oven to 375. Boil water and cook pasta until very al dente( for bow tie this is about 9 minutes) Blend first 5 ingreds together in a large bowl with salt and pepper. Chopp chicken, celery, onion, artichoke and onion, dump into bowl. Stir well. Drain pasta well, add to bowl. Place in large casserole dish, cover with bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes until bubbly. Top with cheese, bake 10 more minutes. Mangia!

Spaghetti and Meatballs, my way

I LOVE Spaghetti and Meatballs, and I figure if you are going to eat this dish, make it fab! Homemade sauce and meatballs with a surprise make a good dinner really special.

Tomato Sauce

10 large vine ripe tomatoes (I used good fresh John's Island Toms)
1 head garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 large sweet onion
1 cup good red wine (or chicken stock)

Cut the top off the garlic, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil and bake at 400 for 3o minutes, until fragrant

In a large soup pot, or crock pot, throw tomatoes (quartered), basil, onion (quartered), wine and garlic cloves popped out of their skins. Cook until tomatoes explode and start to break down, 1 hour. Puree with inversion blender or place in blender in small batches, 

Special stuffed meatballs

1 lb Ground beef (I use 93/7 fat mix)
2 tbsp pesto
2 tsp minced garlic
s&p
fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes the size of a small dice

Preheat oven to 400. Blend beef, pesto, garlic and seasoning together in a bowl. To make meatballs, take a portion of meat mixture (about the size of a ping pong ball) and flatten in your hand. Put the mozz in the center and fold the beef around the cheese. Place on broiler pan. Bake until meat is cooked, and cheese is starting to ooze, about 12 minutes.

Toss noodles of any kind with sauce, top with meatballs. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

ICE CREAM!!

I admit it, I love ice cream. My all time favorite is from back in Cincy, an amazing place called Graeter's. Their double chocolate chip flavor could inspire me to commit mayhem, chips bigger than a silver dollar. It is available at Krogers, and now Earth Fare, but at 5 bucks a pint its pricey (but WORTH IT!!) I decided to make my own ice cream, and even better sorbet. About 4 years ago my mom and I bought a Cuisinart Fro-Yo, Ice Cream and Sorbet maker. Pop the cylinder in the freezer over night, blend up our brew and freeze away. It takes about 30 minutes in the machine, then another hour in the freezer for solid consistancy. Mangia!!

Fruit Sorbets

The easiest things you can make in this gizmo.

1 quart berries of any kind
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
4 tbsp lemon or lime juice

Bring sugar and water to a low boil to dissolve sugar. Add corn syrup. Allow to cool.
Blend strawberries and juice until pureed. Pour through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth.
Combine strawberry puree and simple syrup. Chill for 1 hour. Pour into ice cream machine according to directions. Freeze for 30 minutes until soft serve in texture. Freeze for 1-2 hours until firm. 

That's the basic. I went on  to do many more types of sorbet, keeping to the basic proportions. Some winners were Lemon Basil*, Blackberry Mint, Watermelon Mint, Lemon Thyme* and Mango.
For the Lemon (or other juice based sorbets) the recipe is a little different.
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest

Make the simple syrup, cool. Combine with citrus juice and herbs, add to ice cream maker.
Note for the herbs: You can choose to finely chop the herbs and leave them in the sorbet, or leave them whole and steep the flavors in the fridge for an hour then remove before freezing.

Now for the fun stuff!!

Orange Sherbet (this was a request)
Combine 3 cups whole milk with 1 can frozen OJ concentrate, thawed. Add 2 tbsp sugar. Blend until smooth. Freeze as usual.
Can be made with all flavors of frozen drink concentrates. Adjust sugar to taste.

Decadent Chocolate Ice Cream (and I do mean decadent)

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine (I used Hershey's Special Dark bars)

In a saucepan combine milk and cream along with the vanilla bean. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Remove vanilla bean.

Combine the sugar, cocoa, eggs and egg yolk in a bowl. Measure out 1 cup of hot milk and stir into bowl at a rapid pace. You may use a hand mixture for this process (known as tempering). Stir the chopped chocolate into the remaining milk and stir until totally melted. Stir in egg mixture and cook slowly, stirring constantly, until mixture resembles a pudding consistancy. Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Make sure plastic is touching the surface of the mixture. Refrigerate until cold, then add to ice cream machine.

Vanilla can be made using this same recipe, just omit the cocoa and chopped chocolate. Another variation is to add chopped peppermint candies to the mix while it is in the ice cream maker. Add 1/2 tsp peppermint extract to the milk mixture.

mmmmm, SPICY faux Pho

As anyone who knows me well knows, I am not a fan of fish. At ALL! When I found this recipe, I decided to give it a shot. A veg? Replace the chicken broth and chicken with veg broth and firm tofu. If you don't like extra spicy, halve the red curry paste and Sriracha! Trust me, this is SPICY!

3 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2  cups shredded chicken breast (I got a rotisserie one from the grocery)
1/2 cup grated carrot (I got pre-cut carrots)
1/2 cup thinly slice snow peas
2 tsp Sriracha (hot Vietnamese Chili Sauce)
2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled

3 oz uncooked wide rice sticks (or vermacelli if you can't find rice sticks)

1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

Bring forst 9 ingredients to a boil in a large soup pot.  Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add rice sticks; cook 3 minutes. Drain.

To serve: Place 1/4 of the noodles in each bowl. Discard ginger from soup and add lime juice, stir. Divide broth and vegis into the four bowls, top with herbs. Enjoy!