It’s chilly outside, what could be better than a nice, thick bowl of hearty soup! This one is a family favorite.
Baked Potato Soup
4 large baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups half and half
3 cups milk
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 green onions, chopped and divided
12 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled, divided
1 ¼ cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1 (8-ounce carton) sour cream
Wash potatoes and prick several times with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for one hour or until done. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise, let cool. Scoop out pulp and set aside, discard skins.
Melt butter in a heavy pot over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk and half and half, cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and bubbly.
Add potato pulp, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons green onions, ½ cup bacon, and 1 cup cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated and stir in sour cream. Add extra milk, if needed, for desired consistency. Serve with remaining green onions, bacon, and cheese as garnish. Yield 10 cups.
Hint…this meal cooks fairly quickly once the roux is made, so cook the bacon and assemble the other ingredients while the potatoes are baking. You’ll have to keep stirring with one hand while you dump everything in with the other.
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans (with liquid)
1 15-ounce can great northern beans (with liquid)
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
1 12-ounce can V-8 juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 pound (1/2 pkg.) ditali pasta
1. Brown the ground beef in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat.
Drain off most of the fat.
2. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta, and simmer for 1 hour.
4. About 50 minutes into simmer time, cook the pasta in 1 1/2 to 2
quarts of boiling water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes or just until
pasta is al dente, or slightly tough. Drain.
5. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5-10 minutes
and serve. (http://www.topsecretrecipes.com)
Serves 8.
Tony Roma’s Blue Ridge Smokies Sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon salt
rounded 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan over high
heat, and whisk until smooth.
2. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered
for 30-40 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Use on pork spareribs – as
cooked with the method from the book Top Secret Restaurant Recipes – or
any of your beef, pork or chicken recipes.
(http://www.topsecretrecipes.com) Makes 1 1/2 cups.
I don’t have any measurements, because I just made the recipe up. It’s also the only recipe I’ve ever “just made up” in my life, so I may be the only person in the world who likes it. It doesn’t have a name for the same reason.
The amount of pasta you need to feed the people who are eating. (I used spaghetti.)
2/person Blackberry Sage Tea teabags from The Republic of Tea
Ginger (I used ground, but fresh would probably be fine too)
Cumin
Cinnamon
Toasted seasme oil.
Brew tea, making it much stronger than you’d normally drink. Make enough to boil your pasta in. Once the tea is made, bring it to a boil, then cook the pasta in it. When pasta is done to your liking, remove from heat then drain. Heat a goodly portion of the oil in a pan, then fry the pasta in the oil, adding ginger, cumin and cinnamon to taste. Note, I don’t think this is as yummy with whole wheat pastas, but it just maybe that you need more of everything.
It should keep about a week, but it’s so good it doesn’t last that long at our house. Halve the recipe if you need to, or make it for some friends and family if you need to.
Blue Kangaroo, is this some sort of dessert or snack? I can’t figure it out from your ingredients.
For me it’s a “Crap! I’ve got class in an hour and I forgot to eat again! Got to eat something quick!” sort of food. I’d put it as more a snack or side dish, though. Despite the blackberry and cinnamon, it’s not so sweet as a dessert to me.
This is also in the “I made it up” category. We were on an RV trip and had the ingredients in the fridge. The result was very tasty and easy to make. In fact, the flavor of the dish is all out of proportion to the simplicity of the ingredients. I made this “camp stew” for a houseful of people at Christmas and they were crazy about it. I use Johnsonville sausage. This reheats well and is great for lunches.
Cassoulet or whateveryoucallit (as my guests said)
The following in 4 oz portions per person:
Hot Italian sausage (or a combination of hot and mild), casings removed
Chicken breast meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
Canned diced tomatoes, undrained
Canned great northern beans, undrained
Olive oil
Fresh rosemary, chopped (to taste, but you will need more than you think)
Crushed garlic to taste
Salt & pepper
Break the sausage into chunks and brown well, breaking up further with spatula. Remove from pan, pour off grease and wipe out pan. Add a bit of olive oil, heat, add chicken and brown quickly. Return the sausage to the pan, add the tomatoes and beans, garlic and rosemary. Heat until bubbling, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour.
Serve with French bread that has been brushed with olive oil and grilled/broiled lightly.
Chefguywhateveryoucallit sounds yummy… Can I go camping with you?
Here’s my much less fancy Campsite Stew:
1 lb. groud beef
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 can condensed beef broth (or beef bouillon) like two cups about
1 16 oz. can cream corn
3 large potatos, diced
salt and pepper to taste
brown the ground beef, put the rest of the stuff in, except the corn and simmer till the potatoes are done. Put in the corn and return to a simmer. Eat.
It is amazingly good. NO SUBSTITUTIONS on the cream corn, that is what makes the broth so good. I tend to make it using more broth and two cans of the corn. Kids and Harley Riders also will eat this with gusto. So there!
We were having a big meal over at my in-laws the day after Thanksgiving, so I made this easy dish on Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving in a Pan
Sliced deli turkey, the thicker the slice the better, cut into chunks
Frozen green beans
One package stuffing
One-two jars turkey gravy
Pepper to taste.
Cook stuffing. Layer turkey and green beans in a 13 x 9 baking dish, cover with stuffing. Pour turkey gravy over all and pepper. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.
I got this Chicken Pot Pie recipe from allrecipes.com. It is very, very good!
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Oh, I forgot- it is a deep dish pie. If using a standard pie pan and you have to choose between adding more sauce or adding more chicken/veggie mix, go with the sauce.
Prepare macaroni n’ cheez according to package directions. Stir in the chili and return to heat long enough to let the mixture thicken. Eat directly from the saucepan with a big spoon while sitting on the couch in grubby sweatclothes watching 80’s action movies on TV. This dish is nicely complemented by a mass-produced national brand beer like Coors or Budweiser.
1 large can chicken (or leftover diced)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can mushrooms
1 box frozen peas and carrots
½ lb Velveeta
½ soup can milk
cooked noodles (about a 12 oz bag)
Put all ingredients into a large skillet except noodles. Simmer, stirring often, until peas and carrots are done and cheese is melted. Add the noodles and mix together.
1 eggplant
salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can peeled tomatoes, or diced, undrained
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
pepper
Cut unpeeled eggplant into long strips, then cut strips down to about finger-length size. Put in colander, sprinkle with salt, and let drain for half an hour.
Heat olive oil. Saute onion in it for 5 minutes, then add peppers, garlic, and tomatoes and stir well. Mix in thyme and oregano.
Rinse eggplant and dry it. Add to pan. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring now and then, til soft–about 20-30 minutes.
Season to taste w/salt and pepper. Can be served hot or at room temperature. I usually eat it on rice (brown preferably) and it is superb.
Here’s my favorite salmon recipe. It’s superb for a holiday. Note that when I say a buttload of rosemary, that’s what I mean. Don’t skimp on the buttload, you skimper!
Salmon:
1 salmon fillet (or more for more people, natch)
1 buttload rosemary
1 red onion
1 lemon
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Preparation:
-Preheat oven to 500 fahrenheit
-Put down enough fresh rosemary twigs in a pan to create a bed to put the salmon on, skin side down.
-Put down a layer of thinly-sliced onions.
-Put the salmon on.
-Salt and pepper the salmon liberally.
-Pour on a little olive oil to smear into the salmon to keep it juicy.
-Cover the fish with the leftover rosemary.
-Slice that lemon super-thin, and laryer it over the rosemary like scales.
-Salt those lemons, and pour on more olive oil.
-Bake about 20 minutes.
The fish comes out moist and aromatic, and you can eat the lemons and onions, and even nibble on the rosemary if you want. Damn, it’s good!
This sounds good, but since I have sort of dingbat frame of mind today, I have to ask…the stuffing gets prepped according to the directions before you add it to the pan, right?
