Beef Vegetable Soup

When I was growing up on a farm in the middle of nowhere Ohio, beef vegetable soup was a staple in the winter. I ate bowls and bowls of this stuff over the years. I make it the same way my mom makes it, my grandma before her and my great grandma. This was the first recipe I made when I was a poor college student. I would splurge when chuck roast was on sale and make a pot of soup and eat it all week.

This is true comfort food. I have a few standard ingredients I always put in the soup, but the rest of the stuff is just what I have on hand. I clean out the vegetable bin in the fridge and add whatever I think will taste good.

The soup starts out the day before as a pot roast in the crock pot. I usually cook a 3-4 lb chuck roast in the crock pot with carrots, celery, onions, garlic and a can of beef stock. We have roast for dinner and I use the leftovers for soup. Even if I a not going to make the soup right away, I freeze the leftover roast, including pan drippings and cooked vegetables for soup making later.

The soup pairs well with crusty bread or homemade yeast rolls. It is even better the day after you make it, as most soup is.

Beef Vegetable Soup

1 - 2 lb cooked roast and any veggies (from leftover pot roast), chopped into smallish chunks
about 32 oz beef broth, either homemade or store bought
14 oz can stewed tomatoes
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice
3 celery stalks, chopped
bag of frozen soup vegetables (I buy the soup medley mix)
small head of cabbage, chopped
small white onion, diced
1 bay leaf
pinch of Italian seasoning or Herbs de Provence
salt/pepper to taste
any other misc veggies you want to add
(broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, etc, I clean out the vegetable bin and add what I want to use up)
water

In a large stock pot, place the meat, all of the vegetables, the stewed tomatoes, bay leaf, spice, salt & pepper, beef broth and enough water to just cover the vegetables.

Heat the pan to boiling and then turn the heat down to low. Cover and let simmer on low heat for about 2 hours.
Don't worry about the soup pot looking crowded with too many veggies, they will put off liquid as they cook and shrink down. Season to taste and serve. Makes excellent leftovers and can be frozen for future use.This recipe makes a generous amount of soup. At least enough for 8 -10 servings. Freezes well.

White Chocolate, Cranberry & Ginger Cookies

I have had cookies on my mind all day. I started thinking about what kind of cookie I was gonna make at 10:30 this morning. I was leaning towards chocolate chip but I'm making a Kentucky Derby pie tomorrow for a pie off, and I'll get my chocolate fix then. I decided to be reasonable and make recipe from Eating Well. I first made these cookies when I was big into Weight Watchers last year, no pun intended. These cookies don't taste like a healthy cookie, but since you are not using butter, they are relatively low in fat and calories.

These are excellent with a cup of tea or still warm with a glass of milk. The crystallized ginger gives the cookies a nice little spicy bite. The recipe makes 2 dozen small cookies. I made my cookies a bit larger and got 14 good sized cookies out of the recipe.

White Chocolate, Cranberry & Ginger Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup oats, quick-cooking or old-fashioned (not instant)
2 ounces white chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli white chocolate chips)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup crystallized ginger

Preheat to 375°F.
Whisk flour, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ground ginger in a small bowl.

Whisk egg, brown sugar, oil and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; stir to combine.

Add oats, white chocolate, cranberries and crystallized ginger; stir just to combine.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto 2 ungreased baking sheets, 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies until puffed and barely golden around the edges, about 11 - 12 minutes. Cool on the pans for 2 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Souped Up Tiny Apple Crisp

This is an easy dessert to throw together after work. It can serve one person very generously or two people. I had some leftover Kraft caramels and I got creative on the topping.

If you have one apple and a few ingredients, you could enjoy this warm from the oven with minimal work. I usually don't even measure the ingredients, just eyeball what I need and throw it together.

Apple Crisp

1 large green apple, peeled and chopped fine
3 T butter melted
1/4 C flour
1/4 C oatmeal
1/4 C chopped walnuts
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg

10 Kraft caramels
1 t half and half

Preheat oven to 375
Spray a small baking dish with nonstick spray.

Peel the apple, chop it into small little bits and put in the bottom of your baking dish. Melt the butter and mix the flour, oatmeal, walnuts, spices and salt in. The topping mixture will be crumbly. Sprinkle all over the apples.

Caramel topping (optional): Unwrap the Kraft caramels and place them in a microwave safe bowl. Add the half and half and microwave until melted, about 45 seconds or so. Stir well and pour over the top of the apple crisp.

Bake for approximately 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool a bit before serving it with a big scoop of vanilla.

Makes 2 servings or 1 gigantic serving.

Bacon & Asparagus Quiche

I usually make a nice breakfast on Sunday. Whenever I ask Mike what he would like for breakfast, he always says bacon and eggs. Under no circumstances would Mike ever agree to eat anything containing spinach, zucchini or asparagus. So the first time I made this I had to get up early and get it in the oven before he had time to object. I've been making this for a few years now, so I don't have to sneak it into the oven anymore. He even eats seconds.

Quiche is really easy, you can use virtually any ingredient in it and it will turn out fine. Serve it with fruit for breakfast or some lightly tossed greens for lunch. Also, leftovers reheat beautifully.

Bacon & Asparagus Quiche

10 asparagus stalks, trimmed, chopped into bite sized pieces and steamed tender crisp
5 bacon slices, cooked crisp and crumbled
1 unbaked pie crust (I just use a frozen Pet Ritz pie shell)
3 eggs
3/4 C. half and half (I use FF half and half)
1 C shredded Swiss cheese
salt and pepper to taste
dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook bacon, crumble and set aside.
Steam the asparagus until tender crisp. I steam it in the microwave - takes about 3 minutes. Drain and set the asparagus aside.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, half and half, salt, pepper and nutmeg until well combined.



Into the pie shell sprinkle the bacon and asparagus. Add half of the cheese. Pour on the egg mixture and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Bake for about 30 - 35 minutes until the top looks a little puffy and golden. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings.

Creamy Gorgonzola Salad Dressing

I haven't made this salad dressing in years. I ran across the recipe when going through some old loose leaf notebooks that I packed before our move to Austin. I think I made it once 7-8 years ago and a couple of times in the 90s. I picked this recipe up when traveling in the USVI from a chef at an Italian restaurant. The dressing was their house dressing and I was obsessed with it.
This dressing pairs well with steak or grilled fish. Or even by itself for a big salad bowl dinner with some crusty bread on the side.

Use the best ingredients you can find. You need really good dolce gorgonzola for this recipe. It won't work with cheap gorgonzola. Italian dolce gorgonzola is the best, but if you can't find that, there are some great dolce gorgonzolas coming out of Wisconsin (and these are also much cheaper than the imported Italian cheese). If you can find good gorgonzola, you must make this, it rocks.

Creamy Gorgonzola Salad

1 C. dolce gorgonzola, cut or crumbled into chunks
1/3 C. balsamic vinegar
1 egg yolk
2/3 C olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 C honey

For the salad:

3-4 C of mixed baby greens
1 large carrot, cut into ribbons
cherry tomatoes

Salad Dressing:

In a blender, place the balsamic vinegar and the egg yolk. Blend for 30 seconds. Through the top of the blender, slowly add the olive oil. The dressing will start to emulsify and thicken up. Add the salt and pepper to taste, about 2/3 C of the gorgonzola and the honey. Whirl up for about another 30 seconds or until the salad dressing is well combined.


Pour the dressing into a container and chill until ready to use.



To serve, in a large salad bowl, place about 1/3 C dressing on the bottom of the bowl. Add 3-4 cups of mixed greens (I use organic baby greens, use the best you can find). With a potato peeler, cut a carrot into long, thin ribbons and add to the salad. Throw in some sliced grape tomatoes. Gently toss the salad until the greens are coated. Plate the greens and add a dollop of crumbled gorgonzola to the top.

The recipe makes enough for about 2 cups of dressing and it will keep in the fridge for up to a week. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before using, and shake it up well.

Blueberry Crumb Cake for My Sweetheart

Thursday was my wedding anniversary and I planned on getting up early to make a crumb cake for Mike as a surprise. Our normal breakfast is usually a smoothie and a piece of wheat toast. I never make anything special for breakfast unless it is Sunday. So I baked this at 5:30 a.m. yesterday morning.

This recipe is straight out of the Martha Stewart playbook, with a couple of tweaks. The cake batter has to be spread out in the pan (it will be a very thin layer). Another thing I like about this is you don't have to use your Kitchen Aid, you can simply hand mix these in bowls. Very easy to put together.

It takes a little while to bake. I thought it would only take 30 minutes but it actually took closer to 45. Be sure to check it with a toothpick in the last 5-10 minutes of baking and adjust accordingly. If you are lucky enough to live near a Trader Joe's, the tiny frozen wild Maine blueberries they sell are terrific in this.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

2 T Canola oil
4 C all purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
2.5 t baking power
1/2 t salt
1 egg
1/2 C milk
2 t vanilla
1 C. light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 t cinnamon
1 C unsalted butter, melted
1 C fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 325. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups of flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a large mixing cup, mix together the egg, milk, canola oil and vanilla.

Whisk the wet mixture into the flour mixture, beat until well combined. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. The batter will be very thick and gluey, spread thinly with a rubber spatula.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour the melted butter into the mixture and stir until large crumbs form.

Sprinkle the blueberries over the cake batter. Distribute the crumb topping over the top of the blueberries. There will be alot of crumb topping (this is OK, better than OK actually!)

Bake at 325 for about 40 minutes, check for doneness with a toothpick.

Makes 12 servings.

Notes:

This freezes well. I usually divide the cooled crumb cake into two sections and freeze half of it for later use.
You could add chopped walnuts or pecans to the crumb mixture.
Instead of blueberries, you could finely dice a small green apple and sprinkle the apple bits over the batter for an apple crumb cake.

Baked Penne with Mushrooms and Two Cheeses

This is a nice dish to make when the weather turns cooler. I found this recipe on one of the cooking boards I read http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f20/baked-penne-with-mushrooms-and-cheeses-15321.html. I've been making it for a few years now. I usually use mozzarella cheese instead of Bel Paese, since Bel Paese is hard to find. Or should I was was hard to find when I lived in Cincinnati. The grocery stores in Austin are so much better. I was just strolling through the cheese section at Central Market and I spotted the Bel Paese. The minute I saw that cheese, I knew I had to make this recipe again. Cooking the whole garlic cloves in with the mushrooms imparts a nice subtle garlicky flavor to the entire dish.

Before you start cooking, please chop, grate and measure your ingredients.


Baked Penne with Mushrooms and Two Cheeses

1 lb mushrooms, cleaned and sliced. (I used baby bellas from the farmers market)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled (leave whole)
4 T butter
salt & pepper
2.5 C dry penne pasta
3 oz Bel Paese cheese, cut into cubes (can substitute mozzarella cheese)
1/3 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 C heavy cream or half & half

Preheat oven to 400. Cook the pasta as usual, drain and toss with 2 tablespoons of butter. Salt and pepper the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, saute the mushrooms and garlic cloves in 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Salt and pepper the mushrooms liberally. Cook over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes. Stir often so the garlic does not burn. When the mushrooms are done, discard the garlic cloves.

Butter a casserole dish (I use a souffle dish, with high sides). Cover the bottom of the dish with a layer of pasta. Cover with a layer of mushrooms and then a layer of the Bel Paese and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Make two or three layers. Pour the cream over the pasta and sprinkle a final dusting of cheese on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 12 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake another 10-12 minutes or until a light crust forms. Remove from oven, let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Makes 4 portions.

I usually serve the dish with a green salad but asparagus, broccoli or steamed green beans would also be a good side for this dish.