McGuyver Dinners- Unstuffed Peppers

Some of the funniest moments in my life took place in a townhouse in Johnston, where my best friend Ronda and I were starting new chapters in our lives. She was starting over in a new city, and I was starting over as newly single. Our friendship is a fun mix of eclectic things- some we have in common, some we couldn't be more opposite if we tried. I'd be lying if I said we didn't have a few cocktails over the time we lived there. We had a fully stocked bar!  Some of our crazy antics included driveway bowling, numerous Jager bombs, and driving through snowdrifts in my SUV. Let's just say this last antic was not so successful.

Anyway, lots of times two adult women looked at the contents of our pantry and bemoaned the selection. Not wanting to go to the store or order delivery, I was usually assigned the task of coming up with a dinner. Ronda would always say that I could take black pepper and an ice cube and come up with a three course meal so, like McGuyer and his crazy paper clip and rubber band saves he day storylines, we just started calling it McGuyver Dinner. I've made many many McGuyver Dinners over the years. It's really not that hard, since I've always got some basic ingredients on hand like some kind of pasta or grain. Making a sauce or gravy isn't too difficult if you keep canned soups, broth or soup bases, or even tomato products on hand. Throw a few things together and you've got a, hopefully, tasty dinner.

Today The Chef was going through our cabinets and came upon my grain stockpile. At any given time I have an assortment of eight or nine grains on hand- everything from rice to quinoa to millet to amaranth. I love trying the ancient grains and using them in recipes. The textures are so varied, the flavors so unique. Some grains, like farro and kamut, look similar to rice. Farro is a larger grain and takes longer to cook than rice. Kamut has a chewy texture and remains firmer than rice. After piling every bag and package of grain from my stash on the counter, I decided to go with the kamut. Kamut is a great source of fiber and protein too, and who doesn't want that? 

I had some bell peppers and mushrooms to use up, so I thought I'd got for an inside out stuffed pepper type dish using Sinful Food products. The Signature Seasoning is great for replacing the salt and pepper. I had just a little bit of garlic olive oil left so I used that and also used he jalapeno oil. It was perfect- the jalapeno added just the slightest bit of heat and another layer of fresh pepper flavor.  Here is my recipe- 

McGuyver Unstuffed Pepper Soup

3 bell peppers

1 large onion

8 oz package mushrooms

handful fresh garlic cloves

1 lb ground beef

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

2 cups uncooked kamut

6 cups beef broth

Sinful Food Signature Seasoning

Sinful Food garlic and jalapeno olive oils

Chop the bell peppers, onions and garlic. Heat a couple tablespoons of garlic olive oil and jalapeno olive oil in a LARGE stockpot. Add the chopped vegetables and season. Cook over medium high heat until softened. Remove from the pot.

Add the ground beef to the pot and break up. Cook until browned and cooked through. Drain any accumulated fat. Return the vegetables to the pot and add all remaining ingredients. 

Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, about an hour until the kamut is tender.

The kamut will not be as soft as rice. It retains it's chewy texture, which I loved. I originally intended this to be more of a casserole-type dish but instead we ended up with a pot of a delicious and hearty soup. I was happy with the result. Kitchen disaster averted!! 

To get your own Sinful Food olive oils and seasonings, click HERE.

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Waiter, there is a fungus in my soup!

The Chef and I are mushroom people. It's one of those things- you either are or you aren't. We love mushrooms of all kinds. We have been known to wander aimlessly in the woods looking for the elusive morel, and for bringing home creepy looking enoki mushrooms from the Asian grocery store. Stuffed, sauteed, fried, over a steak, dipped in sauce, you name it- we will eat it. So it's not surprise that since we're on a homemade soup kick mushrooms make an appearance. 

Another thing we are really into is roasting things. Especially vegetables- the high heat seals in flavor and brings a smoky element to whatever type of veggie you are roasting. In this recipe, the high heat brings out the earthiness of the mushrooms, caramelizes the leek and shallot and gives you lots of roasty toasty browned bits in the pan to add tons of flavor to the soup. I am cooking bacon in the oven at the same time so I'll add a drizzle of bacon drippings to really bring out the smokiness in the flavors. Deglazing the pan with cognac, which is a classic partner for mushrooms, brings a note of sophistication to the soup. Finished with cream, this soup has loads of character, flavor and warms you up on a chilly day. Homemade croutons and big bacon chunks finish it off with a rustic flair.

A quick word about mushrooms- The mushrooms I have chosen to use are easy to find in almost every supermarket. The typical package of mushrooms is 8 ounces and if you can't find all three types, or if you want to try a different mushroom, such as porcini, as long as you have a pound and a half, mix it up! I don't care for shiitake mushrooms much, but if you use them, remove and discard the entire stem-it's tough and woody. You can use just about any other mushroom except morels. Even if they are in season, they don't work well with roasting. If in doubt, just roast a few in the mix and taste test them. If you want to play it safe you can even use 3 packages of white button mushrooms and still have great results.

Creamy Mushroom Soup

• 1 pkg button mushrooms
• 1 pkg portobello mushrooms
• 1 pkg cremini mushrooms
• 3 leeks, cleaned well and chopped
• 3 medium shallots, chopped
• big pinch dried thyme, crumbled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 8 slices bacon
• Homemade croutons 

Make croutons ahead of time and store in airtight container.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wipe mushrooms clean. Trim off stem ends. Halve or quarter any large button or cremini mushrooms. Cut the portobellos into similar size chunks. In a large roasting pan toss the mushrooms, leek, shallots, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20-45 minutes, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are brown and tender.

While the vegetables are roasting, place the bacon slices on a sheet pan with a rim that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake until crispy and brown. This should take about 20 minutes. Drain off about 1-2 tablespoons of bacon fat and toss with vegetables. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels. Break into large pieces. Set aside for later.

When the vegetables are done, remove to a large bowl. Use the cognac to deglaze the roasting pan, stirring to loosen up any browned bits from the bottom. Add the broth. 

Working in batches, puree the vegetables with the broth mixture in a food processor. Pour into stockpot. Add the cream. Heat to serving temperature. Serve soup in bowls sprinkled with homemade croutons and several pieces of bacon per bowl. A teensy sprinkle of something green looks pretty too- fresh thyme leaves or minced parsley work nicely.

Homemade Croutons

• several slices crusty white bread
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, bruised

Cut the bread into large cubes. Set aside. In a small saucepan heat  the olive oil with the bruised garlic cloves. Allow to steep for at least an hour. Remove the garlic cloves (save for use in another recipe or throw in the vegetables when making this soup) and drizzle oil over the bread cubes- you may NOT need all of it. You can use the leftover oil in the soup or refrigerate and save for another use. Toast the bread cubes in a hot heavy skillet- good old fashioned cast  iron is great for this- until browned and crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Let It Snow, I'm Making Soup

I have always been a winter lover. Snow bunny. Ice queen. Call me whatever you like I have always been in love with the winter season. Maybe it's in my DNA, being a Minnesota girl by birth. Every year I looked forward to that first snow, the first time I get to shovel, and hoping and praying for a BIG snowstorm and a snow day. A lot of my friends called me crazy for shoveling snow. I have never even considered owning a snowblower, instead preferring the quiet solitude of time spent outside with the newly fallen snow and my shovel. Not a sound around me, just the crystal white sparkling snow and peace and quiet. Now that I'm older I don't get to shovel like that anymore, and while I still love the beautiful snowfall, the cold weather is a little harder to enjoy.

These days instead of bundling up in a heavy coat, boots, gloves and hat and heading out into the cold, I like snuggling up with a blanket and a warm cat, throwing the curtains wide open and watching the wind whip the flakes of frozen beauty all around. These days it's The Chef who is out there manning the shovel and I concentrate on cooking up some of my favorite winter foods.

Winter foods.....what a wonderful category of recipes. Stews, baked pastas, roasts. I don't know about you, but I tend to think of soup as a winter food. There is something so warming and comforting about a big bowl of chili, or chicken noodle soup, or beef and vegetable soup. Homemade bread baking away while the soup simmers, warming the home and filling the air with amazing scents. It's my favorite time of year. 

Ok, so let's talk about this soup for a minute. It's easy, and I mean kindergarten easy. The hardest skill needed is the ability to crumble up and cook some hamburger. The rest takes care of itself. Probably the most bizarre part of this recipe is in the ingredients- I actually used fake cheese. You know what fake cheese is- it's a weird yellow rubbery loaf of cheese flavored....something, and normally I am a cheese snob extraordinaire, but in this case I needed something that would melt easily and not break down. So the old bechamel and cheddar cheese just wouldn't do it. I also cheated with store bought shredded frozen hash browns and packaged chicken broth. Sometimes, especially work days, a girl just has to cheat, and that's perfectly ok!

Easy Cheeseburger Soup

1 pound hamburger

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

small handfull fresh parsley, chopped

32 oz. carton chicken broth

2 lb chunk Velveeta, cut up

1 bag frozen shredded hash browns

assorted toppings (see below)

Place the hamburger, onion and garlic in a stockpot. Cook until hamburger is cooked through and onions are softened. Drain off fat. Sprinkle the Worcestershire sauce over the meat.

Add the chicken broth, hash browns, and chopped parsley. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and add cheese. Simmer over low heat at least 45 minutes. 

This recipe is great in a crockpot too- just brown the meat, and add everything but the toppings. Cook over low heat about 8 hours.

What to top this creamy yummy soup with? Think cheeseburgers! Crumble some crisply cooked bacon over each serving, or chopped pickles and fresh onions. Oyster crackers are great, croutons even better and so is a chunk of garlic toast. Chopped tomato is great too, or a sprinkle of shredded cheese. A couple shakes of hot sauce kicks up the heat a bit.

Yes.........this soup is definitely going to be a regular in my "winter foods" lineup of dinners. Right after I finish watching him shovel........

It's cold out there!! Warm up with some soup!

It's my favorite time of year. Soup season. I mean come on, what could possibly be better on a cold winter day than a warm bowl of soup, some fuzzy slippers, and a warm kitty on your lap? Not much folks, not much.

Now that I am back in the city and working a sort of weird work schedule, getting home after 6 pm every night, cooking a full meal is often an overwhelming proposition. That is where soup comes in. With the right ingredients in the pantry I can come up with a bowl of wonderful that tastes like I've been cooking all day. I have been trying to expand my cooking horizons as much as possible and trying new things and squash soup is one of those expansions. There are so many wonderful flavors that go with squash I can't wait to try as many as I can.

Lately I have seen a growing trend of ready-made meal recipes for canning, like stews and soups, something people can just heat and eat. I have never been that kind of canner. I enjoy cooking too much and prefer to can the ingredients for a meal and spend time creating. This soup is going to make great use of something I canned an excess of- winter squash. Silly me, besides the normal pumpkin, acorn and butternut squashes I got for putting up, on a visit to an apple orchard one day I fell in love with a Blue Hubbard. If you have never seen a Hubbard squash these things are massive- weighing as much as 40-50 pounds even. I guess I learned my lesson the hard way- dozens of jars of canned squash chunks later I had way more than a family of two can reasonably use. 

I didn't learn my lesson when it came to apples either. When a couple friends offered apple trees for free picking, as much as we wanted, we picked about 25 grocery bags full. Cases of jars of apple butter, applesauce (we don't really like), apple pie jam and loads of pies I still had more apples. Time to can some apple slices to use in something else! 

I was browsing Saveur's website and came across a recipe for a winter squash soup that looked really delicious, and used a couple things I have more than enough of- squash and apples. So by switching up a few ingredients to utilize what I had on hand I was able to create a warm and filling soup, perfect for a cool autumn night. With cooler weather in the forecast it's time to bake some homemade bread and cook up a pot of soup!

Little Lake House Winter Squash and Apple Soup

adapted from www.saveur.com 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• 3 cups mashed Hubbard squash (2 quart jars of cubes)*
• 1 1/2 cups sliced apples (2 pint jars)*
• salt and pepper
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• homemade garlic croutons

Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Add ginger and garlic. Cook and stir for one more minute. Add spices and stir a minute, then add remaining ingredients (except butter, mint and paprika).

Allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes to meld the flavors. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Puree using an immersion blender or food processor. Return to pot, heat through.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the mint and paprika. Remove from heat and allow to steep. Make the croutons using crusty bread and garlic olive oil.

To serve, ladle soup into bowls, drizzle with a bit of the mint butter and top with croutons.

Being a home canner I also had plenty of chicken stock on hand for this recipe, but store bought is just as good. You definitely want to make the croutons too. Get a good crusty French baguette, cut into nice size cubes and toss with melted butter and olive oil and toast them up in a cast iron skillet instead of in the oven. They retain a chewy texture that is just perfect for this creamy soup. Paired with a fall salad of mixed greens, toasted pecans and chopped fresh pears you have a delicious dinner in no time.

*You can also substitute 3 cups canned squash or pumpkin puree from the grocery store, and a little less than 1 1/2 cups of applesauce if you have it on hand- you're going to puree the soup anyway right? If you use fresh sliced apples you will want to simmer the soup until the apples are tender, which may be a bit longer.

Dragging home the skeletal remains again

Usually I'm hauling home the turkey carcass. Or a big pile of beef bones. This time however, it's a nice big monster of a ham bone from the middle of the spiral sliced ham lovingly prepared by my son in law for Christmas Day dinner. Yep, as I have said before, I am THAT relative, the one who asks "are you gonna save those bones?" as I'm getting ready to head home.

A lot of my canning friends make and can ham stock. I don't really use all that much ham stock. Generally speaking I make one pot of stock after a holiday, which evolves into one big pot of ham and beans and then leftovers get frozen in individual portions for lunches and solo dinners. So while it's not something I make gallons of, I do like to make one big stockpot full. Making the ham stock is easy- throw the bone and any meat clinging to is in a large pot. Cover with cold water. Add seasonings- I used a chopped onion, 4 cloves chopped garlic, 3 bay leaves, a palm full of whatever herbs on my shelf looked good to me- thyme, parsley, basil, marjoram, and a couple big grinds of pepper. Lay off on the salt at this point- ham is salty and you can always add more later but you cannot remove it if you oversalt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for several hours. After a while prop the lid open a little to let the stock reduce slightly- it intensifies the flavor.

Remove the ham bone and set aside to cool. Pop that pot of stock in the fridge overnight (strain it if you like) to let the fat harden on the top. Scoop that off and discard the next day. When your ham bone is cool enough to handle, cut off any remaining meat and throw it back in the stock. I don't strain my stock. I will fish out the bay leaves if I can but I don't freak out over them. Lots of meaty bits come off that bone during simmering and I want that to stay in my soup. Add the meat you've cut off the bones back to the stock in the pot. Now you can either continue on with your soup or divide the broth into freezer containers and freeze (you CAN process in a pressure canner and jars but I never make a big enough batch to bother with that).

I am continuing on with my soup today, so I have also soaked one and a half pounds dried beans. I used a mix of navy beans and pinto beans, roughly half and half. I always prefer to soak beans overnight versus the quick soak method, I think the beans are more tender and cook without falling apart as much. Drain the beans and rinse. Add to the ham stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and cover, simmering until the beans are tender which can be a while depending on your beans. Expect about an hour, and sometimes two. 

During the last 45 minutes or so of cooking I sometimes add chopped carrots and sometimes diced potatoes. I had no carrots on hand but I did dice up a couple small potatoes and added those. They thicken up the broth and really bulk up the soup. Served with hot and buttery cornbread, crusty rolls or breadsticks this is the perfect winter meal and provides plenty of leftovers. Today I had half a round loaf of Italian bread to use up so I cut it into "pull apart" bread, sprinkled with some shredded Parmesan cheese and drizzled liberally with a mixture of melted butter, crushed garlic and herbs. Pop into the oven at 375 until browned and toasty and serve with the soup. So so good! The soup was the perfect dinner on an evening that includes a winter storm warning, with heavy snowfall, ice and howling winds in our future. Even the Chef, the self-proclaimed Soup Master, had compliments for the cook. The only person who was somewhat dissatisfied was Louie.....no ham bones for him!

The Chef's Last Minute Lentil Soup

Hey, it's been a crappy rainy last couple of days. Not  much snow to speak of yet, but just the bone-chilling wet cold that reminds me of winters living in England and made me yearn for my mother's amazing German lentil soup. The Chef is a self-proclaimed Soup Master, and I'll give credit where credit is due- he does make some pretty incredible pots of amazing. As I said, I'm a huge fan of lentils, and with lots of fresh vegetables in the fridge The Chef came up with a homey, hearty and meat-free lentil soup I think will be a new regular item around here. Using up some leftover mirepoix from another recipe a couple days ago, the last of the zucchini from the garden, home canned tomatoes and beef stock and of course, lentils, which we always seem to have on hand, this soup hit the spot. 

The Chef's Last Minute Lentil Soup

• 1 cup coarsely chopped onion
• 1 cup coarsely chopped celery
• 1 cup coarsely chopped carrots
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 bag lentils
• 1 quart beef stock
• 4 cups chopped tomatoes
• handful sun dried tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• pinch of crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp crushed oregano
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2 tsp crushed dried thyme

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large stockpot. Add the onion, celery and carrot. The Chef used some that was leftover from another meal so it was pretty good sized chunks- worked perfectly. Nice and substantial. 

Cook and stir about 8-10 minutes, then add the garlic and cook another minute or two. Add the vegetables, beef stock (you can use chicken or vegetable stock if you prefer) and the seasonings.

Rinse and sort the lentils, add to pot. Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer about 25 minutes until the vegetables and lentils are tender.

Look at all those chunky vegetables!

You can add any veggies you like to this recipe- and before serving you can add some baby spinach, chopped kale, big handful of fresh herbs such as parsley or basil. Serve with a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan cheese. It reminds me of a minestrone with the chunky veggies and tomatoey broth. 

A Peek Inside Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard- Indian squash soup

Old Mother Hubbard has a cupboard full of Hubbard. Hubbard squash that is. If you have never seen one, they are GIANT things, my favorite variety being the big Blue Hubbard. The first time I saw one I was in awe of this gorgeous unique looking vegetable. There is an apple orchard not too far from the Little Lake House and it was on a tourism day for work that I visited, an they had a huge display of many different kinds of pumpkins, gourds and squash, but the big Blue Hubbard really stood out, and I had to have one.

A few smaller blue Hubbards among pumpkins and
other winter squash

Folks..........one squash is a lot. I spent the better part of an entire day cutting up, seeding, peeling, and cubing that monster. It had to be a good forty pounder. I ended up with over 20 quarts of canned squash cubes. Twenty quarts is a lot of squash to make other foods out of. I didn't just have the Hubbard- I'm not that smart. I left the orchard that day with the back of my SUV full of Hubbard, butternut, Celebration, turban-type, acorn, Delicata, pumpkins and of course, apples so I have tons to work with. Home canned squash is very tender and works best in recipes that call for a puree. Baked goods such as bread and cakes, pies, soups, puddings- all delicious options for using squash. We have been on a soup kick since embracing the home baked bread idea and, well, we have all that squash and hopefully we can use some of it before our upcoming move away from the lake. No one wants to pack, load, unload and unpack heavy quart jars of squash......

I think next to the pumpkins and other squash, you can
get an idea of the enormity of this Hubbard.

Besides making bread at home, learning new cuisines and food cultures has been a goal of mine, and especially exotic things like Indian flavors. I've stocked up on many new spices used in Indian cooking, and now want to try them out. So many incredible flavors make up any given Indian dish. Learning to make tandoori chicken was a crash course in spices. Lots of chilies are used in Indian cooking, from mild to mouth-scorching hot. Ajwain is a pungent seed that flavors stir fried vegetables wonderfully. Cardamom, peppercorns, cumin, celery seed, fenugreek leaves and seeds, mints, mustards, ginger, cloves, cinnamon- the list goes on and on. Some add a savory element, some add color, some heat, some an herbaceous quality. The sweetness of squash is the perfect background for creating an interesting mural of flavors.

In researching my Indian flavors I did come across a great blog featuring "How To Build an Indian Pantry". Click HERE to visit.

Now let's talk about spices. Indian spices are so perfect and beautiful on their own, combined in blends they take on a whole new dimension. Complexity, flavor, some with heat, some sweet, most are a true test for the palate- what exactly IS that in there?  This soup uses garam masala which is  a Northern Indian blend. Garam tells us it's a "hot" spice, but rather than hot pepper burn your face off heat, it refers to the intensity. Normally this mixture contains turmeric, white and black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom pods and cumin seeds,all ground together. You might find nutmeg, mace, star anise and allspice in there as well. In terms of Indian spices- the more the merrier! Toasting the spices really brings out the aromatic qualities and flavors in the spices.

Let's make some Indian Spiced Squash Soup. You will need-

• 4 cups pureed cooked Hubbard or other winter squash
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons garam masala
• 3/4 cup canned coconut milk (NOT cream of coconut)
• 3 cups chicken broth
• Herb Oil (recipe follows)

Heat the olive oil in a deep stockpot. Saute the onion until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Don't let the garlic brown. Add the garam masala and stir, cooking another couple minutes to bring out the aromas of the spices.

Add the squash, coconut milk and broth to pot. Mix well. Cover and simmer for about an hour. Puree the finished soup with an immersion blender (or CAREFULLY in batches in blender). Serve drizzled with a little Herb Oil.

Herb Oil

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup parsley leaves
• pinch of salt and pepper

Buzz in mini food processor til smooth. Use any leftovers in salad dressings, marinades or chimichurri.

This soup is perfect on a chilly, rainy fall day, and even better if you have a fresh from the oven loaf of crusty bread to go alongside. The Indian spices bring a warm feeling to the smooth creamy soup. Give this recipe a try!

Lazy Sunday and Philly Cheesesteak Soup

The forecast calls for autumn-like temperatures and for me that means firing up the oven, baking some artisan bread and making a big pot of soup. A friend of mine recently inspired me with a soup she made for dinner and I thought I'd give it a try and put my spin on it.

I've made many many pots of soup over the years. I can't tell you how many turkey frames or chicken bones ended up in the soup pot. Ham bones and beans, lentils and kielbasa. Veggie beef, hot and sour, chili, cream of this or that. One soup I have never made from scratch before- cheese soup. No real reason why, just never have. That is where my challenge to myself begins-master the cheese soup and up the ante by making Philly Cheesesteak Soup.

I picked The Chef's brain a little for cheese soup recipes. I tell ya, it's nice having a resident expert in the house! I think he was a little crabby (allergy season) with my questions but he's a good sport anyway. I'm sure it's tough for a chef to answer these silly questions about what's such a basic recipe but my Chef is as passionate about food as I am. We talked about different cheeses to use, what melts better than others, real cheese versus the fake cheese gunk that's VERY common in Philadelphia on a cheesesteak sandwich. 

Pulling off this soup is going to be quite an event. I need to start with the croutons. Get a nice loaf of crusty bread and cut into somewhat large cubes. Melt half a stick of butter, add 1/4 cup olive oil and several cloves of fresh garlic, cut in half and crushed. Heat for 10-15 minutes to infuse the garlic. Drizzle over the bread cubes, tossing to coat evenly. We have been snacking off our baguette I bought for croutons, so I had only half to work with.

Now, here is a trick I just learned from Food Network chef Damaris Phillips- heat a big cast iron skillet for about 5 minutes until hot. Add the croutons and cook and stir until toasty allover- you end up with a crusty, chewy bite of bread and not a dessicated cube of yuck. Set aside and allow to cool. You can do this the night before even and keep them stored in an airtight container.

Now let's get started on the steak strips. My plan is to buy a small piece of sirloin to cook, but you could use leftover steak if you had it.  Let's get started on the Philly Cheesesteak part. You will need-

• one 4-6 oz tender steak such as sirloin or New York Strip*
• one large sweet onion
• 2 bell peppers
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• butter
• salt and pepper

Slice the meat into strips, then again crosswise into bite-sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Clean the vegetables. Cut the onion into strips and again crosswise into bite-sized strips. Repeat with the bell pepper. You don't want fajitas here- just bite size pieces. I also used half a Hatch chili pepper fora little more kick.

In large skillet melt a couple tablespoons of butter. Add the steak and stir fry for a minute or two. Add a couple more tablespoons of butter to skillet. Add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir over low heat for 10-15 minutes until onions have become a little caramelized. Add peppers a little later if you like more crunch. Remove from skillet to bowl and cover with foil.

* You want to make sure what you have is TENDER, so if you choose to go with say, round steak, you're going to need to cook that low and slow in some braising liquid for a good hour or two until tender. My mom often used steak like this in pepper steak or stroganoff, adding the other ingredients much later.

Now that we've got that part done, we need to get our soup going. For the cheese soup, you will need-

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup good Cognac
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 pound cheese- I am using half mild cheddar and half Monterrey Jack for smooth melting, shredded

A little cognac never hurt, right? "Airplane bottles" are perfect.

In a large pot, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk to make a smooth roux. Add the chicken broth, milk and cognac. Cook over medium high heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat. 

Using a wooden spoon to stir, add the cheese in parts, stirring until melted before adding the next handful. If needed, return to LOW heat briefly to melt. Cover pot and set aside.

To serve, in each of six deep bowls, evenly divide the steak and vegetables. Fill the bowl with soup, top with garlic croutons and serve immediately. Alternatively, you can just combine everything except the croutons, which is what I did.

The first thing you get is the ever so slight whiff of that cognac on your first bite. It adds just the perfect bit of "luxe" that cheese soup can lack. It really kicks it up from homestyle comfort food to something just a little more gourmet. Then you get the tender bites of steak and onions and peppers and those crusty, chewy homemade croutons- believe me folks, don't skimp on the croutons and buy store bought. These are like little bits of garlic toast and oh so good. This is going to be such a great dinner on a cold, snowy day. It's filling and creamy and hearty at the same time. You're going to love it.

Small Town Surprise!

I set out on a qwest for vegetable soup. My destination was a teeny tiny small town (and I mean SMALL town) market. What I got was NOT what I'd bargained for!

Just a normal Friday evening for us, as The Chef has some time off right now and we are taking advantage of the evenings together, we decided, well actually I begged and he relented, to take a drive on this beautiful spring evening to the little town of Fontanelle, in Adair County, Iowa. I am planning a product review and blog post for a product that can only be found at their little store, so off we went.

Pulling in the parking area it just seemed like a smallish grocery market, nothing special. Walked in the door and right there in a special rack was the soup I came after. We decided to browse a little, and as I turned around, I became amazed at what I was seeing. 

Organic foods lined the shelves. Grains such as quinoa, hemp and chia seeds, specialty flours and grain products of many many kinds filled shelf after shelf. Brands I know- like Bob's Red Mill!! 

Gourmet sauces and condiments, Tomolives even! A nice selection of hot sauces- one of our favorite things to sample. 

Unique pastas such as Amish-made kluski and gluten free quinoa spaghetti. A small but fresh and well stocked affordable produce section. The old fashioned meat counter filled with beautiful cuts of fresh meat. 

But the best was yet to come. We love sushi. LOVE it. I've been looking around for a sushi making class so we could make our own- and here, nestled among Asian food items I had never seen even in the huge city supermarkets, were sheets of nori and a sushi rolling mat kit. Heaven !!!

I think it goes without saying, we did not leave that store with just the 2 quarts of locally made soup and I also think most of you know by now, this will not be a one-time visit. 

Anything to avoid Christmas shopping

Everyone knows I hate shopping. The Chef hates shopping. We confine even our grocery shopping to once a month because we HATE the stores. So of course, two Grinches wouldn't want any part of Christmas shopping. Heck to the NO !!

It was pretty comical- the great lengths we went to in order to avoid actually leaving the house for the store. The Chef declined an invite to go with a buddy to Mens' Disneyland- Best Buy and Guitar Center. He busied himself with concocting a big pot of lentil soup. We agreed to go to the store when the crowds die off for the day. He did housework !!!

 He hinted at cookies, and his favorite is Oatmeal Raisin.

So while he did the housework, I threw together his favorite cookies- Oatmeal Raisin. No walnuts or pecans in the house but I did find a tub of slivered almonds in the cabinet. I roughly chopped them, tossed them in a hot dry skillet for a few minutes and threw them in the dough with the raisins.

Frog's Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter (NEVER NEVER NEVER use margarine or you will have hockey pucks, not cookies)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3 cups oats- I always use Quaker Old Fashioned- the long cooking kind

1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted

1 cup raisins

Cream shortening and sugars, add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Add nuts and raisins. Add oats last, mix well.

Spoon onto cookie sheets in rounded tablespoons. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

The Chef and I have several "He Said She Said" recipes - you know what I mean, we each make the same thing but in a very different style- like pizza, spaghetti sauce, and lentil soup. My version is thick and homey and very German. His version is very Italian style- lots of tomatoes and big bold spicy flavors. The broth is rich and tomatoey with just the slightest hint of heat from the banana pepper.The vegetables are cut in big chunks and make it seem more like a stew than a soup. This is a serious, stick-to-your-ribs big bowl of awesome !

Joe's Lentil Soup

1 bag lentils, rinsed and picked over (DO NOT soak !!)
1 14oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
5 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 cup fresh or frozen cut green beans
4 stalks celery, sliced
thyme, bay leaf, chives, parsley, salt and pepper
4 cups chicken stock
4-6 cups water
3 tb beef soup base
1 kielbasa sausage, cut into chunks
small handful dried banana pepper slices with seeds (We have dried banana peppers from our garden. If you don't have banana peppers (fresh is ok to substitute) or can't find them you can substitute a pinch of crushed red pepper but use sparingly, it's much hotter than banana pepper)

In large soup pot heat 2-3 tb olive oil. Saute onion, garlic, celery and carrot for a few minutes. Add all ingredients to pot.

Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, simmer until vegetables and lentils are tender. Serve in big bowls with lots of crusty bread for sopping up the broth.

After all this cooking and good food we seem to have a big case of the LAZIES..... and it's doubtful that any Christmas shopping is going to be finished up. Grrrrrrrrr........it's just prolonging the agony......