What's cookin'? - Stuffed Pepper soup!

Yesterday we got about 4 inches of snow here where I live in Connecticut.

This Tuesday the weather forecast is for  blizzard-like conditions!

Did I ever mention to you that I hate winter?

HATE IT!!

That's right! All capital letters!

I can only hope that my husband makes good on his promise of moving somewhere warmer when he retires (at least for half of the year)!

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that when it's cold, I make soup!

Nothing warms me up more then sitting by our woodstove with a nice, warm bowl of soup.

In fact, it doesn't even have to snow for me to make it. The temperature just has to drop a little below 40 degrees!

I've been making so much soup lately that my oldest son asked me, "Mom, what's up with all the soup lately?"

My response was simply, "It's cold."

DUH! 

Doesn't everybody resort to making soup when it's cold?

A little background info before sharing the recipe .... As most of you know, I am a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, and have been, for going on 18 years!

We used to sell 6 x 6 scrapbooks.

For several years I hosted a recipe "swap" a couple of times during the year, where you would choose one recipe to share make a 6x6 scrapbook page of that recipe.  You would make multiples of the page, so that everyone would receive one.

When the due date arrived, you were invited to bring your cooked creation to share as well as your pages to swap.

Here are a few examples:

I have gathered tons of great recipes over the years - about four scrapbooks worth! 

Today I share with you a recipe  that I have used over and over again.

It was given to me by my friend Marie S., and it is the only one I ever consult for making stuffed pepper soup. It's awesome!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

This is a HUGE batch that feeds 4 adults with plenty of leftovers.

•2 pounds ground beef
•1 large onion chopped
•4-5 bell peppers (I only used 3 the other day) any color (we usually
usually use green and red) chopped
•1 large can diced tomatoes (I used whole tomatoes and chopped them myself)
•1 carton beef broth
•3-4 cans of tomato soup
•1 small can/jar of tomato sauce (or what ever you have on hand)....OR
just add more tomato soup
•4 Tablespoons brown sugar
•Water (I usually just eyeball it)
•Salt & Pepper to taste
•Uncooked White Rice (3/4 cup or more, again just eyeball it)

-Brown and drain the ground beef. 

-Add onions and peppers. Cook until tender.

(Doesn't this look so colorful and pretty?)

 -Add tomato soup, tomato sauce (or more tomato soup), tomatoes,
beef broth and water. Bring to a boil.

 -Add brown sugar and rice. 

-Add salt and pepper to taste.
-Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes. You may need to add more
broth or water depending on thickness.

***This is really a forgiving recipe. You can add more or less of anything and end up with the same result***

YUM!!!!

Thank you, Marie! This is a wonderful soup!

What's cookin'?- Beef stew

Autumn is here!

The mornings and nights are a little chillier nowadays. This gives me an excuse to switch my cooking to warmer, "stick to your belly" meals... A little comfort food doesn't hurt every now and again , does it?

I also have a son who spends a lot of time in a cold ice rink on many nights. For sure I have to prepare meals that will warm him when he comes home!

Last week this particular son requested that I make beef stew.

When I was in the hospital a couple of years ago, my mother came to stay for 2 months. 

She was an awesome support system to everyone of us. 

She kept my household running smoothly in my absence. 

She cleaned.

She cooked.

She made beef stew. 

Everyone fell in love with it.

Fast forward to the recent beef stew request... I have made it many times before, but all of a sudden, doubted my method - afraid that it would be too  soupy instead of a thick base. 

What do I do in a time of cooking distress?

 What any girl would do of course... CALL MOM! 

So, here I am on the phone calling my mother (AKA Paula's cooking hotline)...

Mom: "hello?"

Me: "mom. stew."

Mom: "what?"

Me: "stew!"

Mom: "oh, hi honey! Stew? Are you making it the way I always make it?"

Me: "yes, and I will be darned if I can find the recipe! I have a feeling I know how to make it, but I'm unsure and I don't want it to turn out wrong..."

(Turns out I was right all along, but I'm sure it gave her a thrill to help me out. Plus I'm so blessed to be able to still call my mother for recipes, so I do it as much as possible!)

** Aside** 

Have any of you ever seen the movie Wedding Crashers? There is a scene where crazy Will Ferrell (Chaz), who still lives with his mother, asks for meatloaf... "Mah... The meatloaf!"

Cracks me up every time!

My conversation on the phone with her was a little like that, barking orders like "stew!" without even saying "hello" first!

I tried to find a video clip to post here to share, but couldn't find a single one without the "F" word in it. So, if you have never seen the movie and don't know what I'm talking about, just go on YouTube and search "Wedding Crashers meatloaf"...

Anyway... 

If you've never made stew, here's how to make a great one!

•Dredge beef stew cubes in a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper.

• Roughly chop up one onion.

• Add beef and onion to a sauce pot with about 2 tablespoons oil. Cook until meat begins to brown and onions begin to soften.

• Add 1/4 cup red wine to deglaze pan, scraping off all brown bits. Cook until reduced by about half.

• Nex,t you're going to add one box (or 32 ounces) of beef broth. I didn't have any homemade but I have found that I like this better! (Better than Boullion) I just boiled water and followed the directions on the jar as to how much to add, before adding it to the beef/onion mixture.

• Roughly chop up some celery and carrots, add to pot. (I used three of each.)

(As you can see by this picture I like to have bigger chunks of veggies in my stew!)

• Cook over medium heat for about one half hour, or until vegetables begin to soften.

• Broth should thicken due to the flour used on the beef. If it's too "brothy", you might want to add 2 teaspoons of Minute Tapioca:

• In a separate pot, while stew is cooking, cut two large potatoes into cubes. I cooked mine separately in a boiling pot of water until just soft. Drain.

• I also cook my pasta separately (we like bow ties). You can either put on another separate pot for that or just throw them in the boiling water from the potatoes once the potatoes are done. I cook the potatoes and pasta separately so my stew isn't really starchy.

• When they are done I throw the potatoes, the pasta and a drained can of peas into the stew.

• Cook for a few minutes longer just enough to warm the peas.

Mmmmm...

I can feel it stick to my ribs now... and I'm warm!

What's cookin'? - Steak with Rosemary Garlic Butter/ Parmesan Mushrooms

Too hot!

We moved our meal to the outside - cooked it outside on the grill and then ate it outside too.

This meal was so delicious!

The only thing that would've made it better is a different color on the plate - it was so BROWN!

But, because of the heat, none of us were especially hungry. Therefore, we opted out of a dessert (egads!) or another side dish!

Tonight I had a London Broil to prepare on the grill. I think any cut of beef would do for this recipe. It is a man pleaser, and makes any steak even better (if you can imagine that!)

Tonight our meat was topped with a Rosemary Garlic Butter. 

Butter on steak?

Yep!

And it was damn delicious too!

I was happy that I got to use some of my rosemary from my herb pot on the deck!

I found the original recipe here:

http://www.vintagekitchennotes.com/2013/09/rosemary-garlic-butter-steak-tips-for.html?m=1

This Blogger chose to sear the steak in a frying pan, and make the butter along with it. Since we were grilling our beef, I only made the butter sauce in the frying pan.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

3 garlic gloves

2 T fresh rosemary leaves

4 T butter

1 T olive oil

Salt and pepper

A splash of white wine 

Directions:

•Mince garlic and rosemary. Add 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste). 

•Heat a skillet over medium/high heat and melt butter. Add oil to prevent it from burning too much.

•Add the wine, garlic and rosemary to the skillet. 

•Cook the wine until reduced and a kind of sauce if formed. (You don't want your garlic to turn brown - it tends to taste bitter!)

•Slice the steaks and serve them with the sauce.

Oh. My. Goodness.

--------

I served "baked" Parmesan Mushrooms on the side. (The original recipe calls for them to be baked in the oven; we cooked ours in a grill basket, lined with foil, outside.

These are the best mushrooms I have ever tasted!

Even my oldest son, who doesn't normally eat mushrooms, loved these! (The younger one, not so much.... he still won't even try them ever since he learned in school that mushrooms are a fungus....) 

Whatever.

Once again got to raid my herb pot, this recipe calls for thyme !

This is such an easy recipe, and it was easy enough to put it on the grill instead of in the oven!

Just toss the following ingredients together in a large bowl:

•1 1/2 pounds Cremini / Baby Bella mushrooms

•3 T of olive oil

•Zest and juice of one lemon

•3 cloves garlic, minced

•2 - 3T fresh thyme 

•1/4c parmesan cheese

•Kosher salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)

Spread them all out in a single layer on a lightly greased (or sprayed) bake pan. Bake 375° for 15 minutes.

Again, we put ours in a foil-lined grill pan and just cooked them on the grill! About the same amount of time!

Yumm-o!

What's Cookin'? - A "twofer": Pot Roast/Minestrone

A "twofer" is when part of your initial meal can be used for a second one. I'm sure, if you're like me, you already do this quite often - especially when you have leftovers. 

Remember when I had the leftover crockpot French dip roast beef and made it into the beef enchiladas? This is just like that.

First we have my favorite crockpot recipe of all time - "Italian Chuck Roast" I don't know what the real name is - we just call it that - it's not even really Italian!

But it has  tomatoes in it, so therefore I call it  "Italian"! Hahaha

Here is what you need to make this sublime meat-lovers main dish:

•A 3 lb. chuck roast

•1-2 cans stewed tomatoes

•1 envelope French onion soup mix

That's it! Throw it in your crockpot first 6-7 hours on low.

The original recipe only called for one can of tomatoes. I use 2 because my husband likes them, but the boys pick them off. Doesn't matter - adds a great flavor to this roast!

Save all the juices left in the crockpot (and any leftover meat/tomatoes you might have) and you make this later in the week:

Hearty beef minestrone

Nothing beats soup on a cold winter day!

Here's how I make it:

* Chop 1 onion.

* In a soup pot heat 1/4 c olive oil. Add onion cook till soft (About 5 min.)

* Next add 2 cloves garlic (minced), 2 carrots (diced), 2 stalks celery (diced). Cook until they begin to soften (about five minutes)

* Add cabbage and kale, chopped (3 cups total - FYI: This is about 1/4 head cabbage and 2 c kale). Cook another 5 to 10 minutes until they wilt/cook down. 

* Add the following:

  1 can kidney beans (drained)

  1 12 oz. can V-8 juice

  1 32 oz. box beef broth/stock 

  1 bay leaf

  1/2 t dried thyme

  1 T salt

  Your remaining broth/meat from roast, with any tomatoes that are in it! (If you have refrigerated this for a few days be sure to remove the hardened fat that is on the surface and discard!)

*Cook to a low boil. 

*Add 1/2 cup small macaroni like elbows or ditalini. (You can always add water if you need more liquid.)

*Cook another 10 minutes or until pasta is done.

* Before serving remove bay leaf. 

* To each bowl add grated Parmesan cheese ** and a drizzle of olive oil.

** Sometimes if I have a wedge of Parmesan cheese I will through the rind in - makes for good flavor in your soup! 

Mmmm...

What's cookin'? - Leftovers!

A couple of nights ago we had this for dinner:

It was just your basic mini peppers stuffed with string cheese and broiled, and a French dip sandwich that I had made in the crockpot. 

If you've never made French dip in the crockpot it's soooo easy: 

Put in your roast, add one can French onion soup, one can beef broth, one can or bottle of beer. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Serve on grinder rolls with melted provolone cheese and extra au jus dip.

It was good.

But this was better....

I had leftover shredded beef from the French dip, which I froze. Tonight I used it to make beef enchiladas. I combined a few different recipes. Overall it was easy and very tasty- no whining from the boys like the other night when I made eggplant!

When the meat was thawed, I combined it in a large pan with some sautéed onion and one clove of garlic. Then I threw in one small can of diced chiles, one can of black beans (drained and rinsed), some cumin and half of a small can of  red enchilada sauce.

Once that was heated through, I prepared my flour tortillas (you can also use corn). Flour tortillas need to be warmed in the microwave so they are pliable. You should quick fry corn tortillas.

I added a little cheddar cheese and some of the meat mixture on a tortilla. I rolled it up tightly and put it in my prepared which had about half of a can of the red enchilada sauce spread on the bottom.

When I had about 10 snug in the 9 x 13 casserole pan, I topped  them all off with one more can of enchilada sauce, some cheddar cheese and sliced black olives.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the red sauce is bubbly.

I served it with this:

Chunks of mango with with Coconut milk whipped cream and toasted coconut!

Yum!!!

It's a leftover because I had the coconut milk and toasted coconut left from that cake... That damn cake!!!!

I have yet to blog about it but I will - I promise. It was so good yet so deadly... Shame on you whoever posted it on Facebook!

__________

French dip in the crockpot

*Beef roast 3 to 5 pounds

*1 can French onion soup

*1 can beef broth

*1 can or bottle of beer

Beef enchiladas

*About 1 pound shredded beef (You can   also use ground beef or even chicken)

*2 small cans red enchilada sauce

*1 onion

*1 clove garlic

*1 teaspoon cumin (more our less to taste)

*1 small can of diced green chilies

*1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

*2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

*1 small can sliced black olives

*Tortillas (I used large flour)