Santa Fe Soup

     It's winter, it's cold, which means.....it's soup season! Normally, I'm not a huge fan of soups; they leave me quite underwhelmed...and hungry 30 minutes later. But this particular soup is just too delish to pass.

     It's called, Santa Fe Soup, AKA Southwestern Soup, AKA Taco Soup, AKA "the soup that involves zero cooking and opening a bunch of cans and throwing them in a pot." It's really that easy...probably shouldn't even deserve a spot in a cooking blog. But, I'm feeling gracious, so here goes....

You'll need:
1 lb. ground beef
1c. coarsely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (160z.) cans light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (150z.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14.5oz.) can petite diced tomatoes and jalapenos, undrained
1 (14.5oz.) can diced tomatoes and mild green chiles, undrained
1 (14oz.) can beef broth
2 c. frozen yellow and white whole kernel corn
1 (1oz.) envelope taco seasoning mix
1/4tsp. pepper and salt each
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
Toppings, sour cream, cheese, cilantro, and Fritos chips

Start by cooking together the ground beef, onions, and garlic. Go ahead and throw in the taco seasoning, and salt and pepper too. Just for jollies. Once the meat is cooked, drain the extra meat juice and return it all to the big pot.

OK ya'll, here's the hard part. Are you ready for this? Dump the beans, corn, broth, and tomato cans in with the meat and stir. That's it. Just let it come to a boil, then lower the heat and cover a couple hours until you're ready to chow down. The longer you let it simmer, the better it'll taste.

When you're ready for some grub, serve it up and top with the deliciousness that I mentioned above...

And that's it. You've got a warm, hearty soup that makes everyone think you've been slaving away in the kitchen. But hey...they don't have to know ;)

Happy Cooking!

-G

Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is my Dad's absolute favorite cake flavor, but he's kinda persnickety about it. The boxed ones are a no-go...and the ones that taste like spice cake, uh- uh. So, finding a recipe that he approved of was quite a task.

A friend of ours brought over her version of carrot cake one night, and it was a winner. So naturally, we had to have the recipe, and this has been one of our favorites for a long time now.

You'll need:

1 1/2c. sugar

1c. oil

3 eggs

2c. flour

1 1/2tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2tsp. salt

1/4tsp. nutmeg

3c. shredded carrots

Mix all the ingredients together except the carrots using a hand mixer. Once all these are incorporated, stir in the carrots by hand. Pour the batter into a greased and floured baking pan, or two 8-in round cake pans. Bake at 350* for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let it cool.

While the cake is sitting, go ahead and make the frosting. Obviously, this cake calls for a cream cheese frosting, and unfortunately for you all, I don't use a recipe. But, I can give you a basic idea.

I use 1 block of cream cheese, and throw in a little milk, a little vanilla, and I add powdered sugar until the consistency is slightly thick but still spreadable, and it tastes good.  Yeah....sorry 'bout that. That's how I cook most of the time...

All that's left now is the assembly. You could get fancy and really 'decorate' the cake, but I just poured the frosting over the cake still in the pan, and sprinkled it with cinnamon.

And there you have it! A full serving of vegetables too! ;)

Happy Cooking!

-G



Stuffed Shells with Meat Sauce

My aunt is out of town for a couple weeks, and when that happens, my uncle is a regular dinner guest at our home. I let him make a petition for tonight's meals, and he chose "italian." So, tonights meal was for him, and we had stuffed shells in a tomato meat sauce.

I found this recipe online from the Taste of Home website, and it turned out to be soo good. The family asked for seconds, so I take that as a good sign.



You'll need:

28 uncooked jumbo pasta shells

1lb. ground beef

1/2c. chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cans (15oz. each) tomato sauce

1 can (280z.) Italian diced tomatoes, drained

1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano, divided

1/2tsp. dried basil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 c. (24 ounces) cottage cheese

2 packages (10 oz. each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2c. grated parmesan cheese

1/2tsp. seasoned salt

In a skillet, cook ground meat, onions, and garlic until the meat is cooked through. Drain the meat, then add the tomatoes and tomato sauce, plus the basil and 1 tsp. of oregano. Let this come to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for 10-15 minutes.

While that goodness is happening, boil the jumbo shells for about 8 minutes to where they are softened, but not breaking apart.

In a separate bowl, the stuffing for the shells takes place. Mix together the eggs, cottage, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese,  seasoned salt, spinach, and remaining 1/2 tsp. of oregano.

Now it's time for assembly. Lightly grease a large baking dish, and spread a cup or so of the meat sauce mixture over the bottom of it.  Have your cooked shells and cheese mixture on hand, and have at it...

Stuff each shell with a little bit of the cheese mixture, and lay them on the baking pan in a single layer.

Top these babies with the rest of the meat sauce...



...and bake them covered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese looks nice and gooey.

Serve 'em up and eat them warm. These were really hearty and would make a great cold-night meal. But, seeing as we never get those here, I had to seize the moment and make them now ;)

Happy Cooking!

-G





Chicken Mediterranean

As promised before, here's the recipe for the meal that I prepared to go with the Asiago bread. I've been making this recipe for a long time...it's just so simple to make, yet tastes like I put a lot of time into it. Plus, it has one of my favorite ingredients.....feta cheese. How can you go wrong with that?

OK, you'll need:
1/2 lb. skinned and boned chicken breast halves, cut into cubes
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4c. kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/2tsp. dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2tsp. dried  oregano
1/3c. crumbled feta cheese
4 ounces pasta, cooked

 Combine the chicken, garlic, and olive oil in a ziplock bag, and let this marinade in the fridge for a few hours (I season the chicken with adobo, so I skip this step, but if you don't have adobo, do this).

Cook the chicken in a large skillet until all the chicken is cooked.

Remove the chicken from the pan, and add tomatoes and olives, along with all the spices to the skillet. Reduce heat and simmer for about 7 minutes, making sure to stir it occasionally so the tomatoes don't burn.

Return the chicken to the pan, add the feta cheese, and remove the skillet from the heat. Cover and let it stand for about 5 minutes.

Serve this over any hot pasta of your choice, and chow down!

Happy Cooking!

-G



Rosemary Asiago-Laced Bread

I love baking artisan-type breads.  They can add such a fancy flair to a meal, and the possibilities are really endless when coming up with good combinations to bake together.  The only downside is that breads can be kinda tricky to do.  The whole proofing process sometimes flops, then the whole recipes goes down the drain. But I love it when a loaf really comes out perfect!

I found this bread recipe in a Food and Wine magazine, and decided to give it a try. I had some Asiago cheese left from another recipe, so decided it was time to give it a try. Now, word of warning, that is a strong cheese...some people in my house were slightly nauseated while the bread was baking from the intensity of the smell, but they approved of the finished product ;)

Here's what you'll need:

1 Tbsp. active dry yeast

1 1/4c. warm water

2 tsp. sugar

4-4 1/2c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

2 tsp. dried minced onions

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2c. shredded Asiago cheese

1/2c. shredded Parmesan cheese

1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water

Sprinkle yeast over 1/4c. water. Stir in 1 tsp. of sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes until the mixture is foamy.
Stir together 3 1/2c. of flour, salt, rosemary, minced onions, cayenne pepper, and remaining teaspoon of sugar.
Pour yeast mixture into flour mixture. Add remaining 1 cup warm water and the olive oil. Stir to form a ball. Mix together the cheeses and add 3/4c to the mixture.
Turn onto a well-floured surface and knead until dough is elastic and smooth. Place the ball of dough in a greased bowl.

Cover and let rise, till it looks like this...

Punch down the dough, and roll into a loaf shape, making sure to tuck the ends under.

Cover and let rise till it's doubled in size. Once it does that, brush the loaf with the egg wash mixture, and top with remaining cheese mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the pan and cool.

I served this with Mediterranean Chicken (recipe soon to follow), and it paired splendiferously!

Happy Cooking!

-G 



Rocky Road Candy

I noticed that I haven't posted on sweets since I first started this blog, so I decided to remedy that with this post.

This recipe is one that my family has been doing for ages...it's super simple and so delicious! I never tire of rocky road candy ;P

You'll Need:
1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 (14oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 T. butter
2c. dry roasted peanuts
1 (10 1/2 oz.) package mini marshmallows

In a saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate morsels with butter and condensed milk. Remove from heat. In a large bowl, combine peanuts and marshamallows; stir in chocolate mixture.
Spread in a wax-paper lined 13x9 pan and chill for 2 hours or until firm. Remove from pan, peel off wax paper, and cut into squares.

Happy Cooking!
-G

Ribs n' Fixings

Growing up in the south, I have come to appreciate good Southern cooking. I'll admit, why people enjoy collard greens so much still eludes me, but for the most part, I'm a fan.  So when I was presented with a rack of ribs, and was told to make dinner, I decided to go for the gusto and make a nice Southern-style meal.

From my extensive culinary training by The Neeleys and the Food Network Channel, I knew that good ribs started with a good rub. So, I set off to make a rub that would make you slap yo' mama.

This one had a little bit of everything in it: chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, paprika, cumin, salt, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper (I had to control myself with that one....some members of my family don't appreciate as much 'kick' as I do )





I then proceeded to rub the rack of ribs with this mix until I had pretty much all of it covered. And my friends, don't be shy with this, rub a dub the meat like there's no tomorrow. It makes a difference ;)

Now comes the part where I deviated a little bit. Usually, you're supposed to grill these babies, but, seeing that it's like 100 degrees outside, I decided to do myself a favor and cook them another way. I placed the ribs on a large baking sheet, and cooked it in the oven at 250 degrees for 2-4 hours (depending on how big your rib rack is). I actually like this technique better..the ribs almost fall off the bone, and the rub really soaks into the meat. Not to mention, once it's in the oven, you can really forget about it and do other things.

 

I served these with some delicious sides, one of my favorites being the grilled corn. I'd never done that before, but I mixed some leftover rub with some butter, slathered the corn with it, and grilled it until it looked done. Ahh...the corn came so sweet and savory...too good.

All in all, this dinner came out pretty good. I wouldn't call it a total success, as I didn't actually slap my mama, but it came close nonetheless ;)

Happy Cooking!

-G