December 14, 2011: Beef Stew 2 Recipe

During the winter months, soups and stews are some of our favorite family meals. Not only are they economical and easy to prepare, they’re hot and hearty and perfect for a cold winter night, along with fresh-from-the-oven biscuits or rolls.

This is a variation on the beef stew recipe I shared earlier this year that uses Lipton onion soup mix. The spices are different and it has a very unique flavor – but one I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

Spicy Beef Stew

1 T. vegetable oil

1 pound beef for stew (try a tough steak, such as top sirloin), cut into chunks

1 small white onion, cut into chunks

1 cup baby carrots, cut into thick, diagonal slices

1 cup chopped celery (use the heart and bottom half of the stalks thinly sliced)

2 small potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

¼ cup ketchup

1 14-ounce can beef broth

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup dry red wine

1 bay leaf

1 cardamom pod

¼ t. ground cinnamon

½ t. thyme

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

1 t. sea salt

In a Dutch oven, heat the oil to medium. Add the chunks of beef and brown on all sides. Add vegetables and cook five more minutes; turn off heat. Add remaining ingredients. Cover Dutch oven and transfer to a low (225 degrees) oven. Bake for 4 – 5 hours, until vegetables are tender and sauce thickens. Remove bay leaf and cardamom pod before serving.

Serves 4

October 31, 2011: Canadian Cheese Soup Recipe

Happy Halloween! Are you dressing up this year? Do you have kids you’ll be taking out trick or treating tonight? Stay safe and have fun!

If you’re planning a special menu for the ghouls and goblins in your life and want a black and orange food theme, try making this soup which fulfills the orange part of your menu. You might want to serve it with black olives and black grapes (which are on sale at Safeway today).

Canadian Cheese Soup

2 T. butter

½ cup finely chopped carrots

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup finely chopped onion

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

1 ½ cups chicken broth

Dash paprika

Salt and pepper

1 ½ cups shredded American cheese

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add vegetables and sauté until tender. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute to ensure it’s well incorporated. Slowly stir in milk and chicken broth. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Stir in the cheese and continue stirring until melted. Do not boil.

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main dish.

October 27, 2011: Quick and Easy Mushroom Wild Rice Soup Recipe

This recipe is one I concocted to use a can of soup I’d gotten for mere pennies via extreme couponing and leftovers from a chicken dinner. When put all together, they made a delicious, hearty soup perfect for a cold weekday night. It’s a snap to throw together and doesn’t take long at all to cook.

“Semi-Homemade” Mushroom Wild Rice Soup

2 t. olive oil

¼ cup finely minced onion

1 small carrot, peeled and shredded

1 clove garlic, minced

1 t. dried parsley flakes

1 can cream of mushroom soup (not condensed; I used Progresso)

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 cup cooked long grain and wild rice

1/3 cup chicken broth

Heat olive oil over medium heat in saucepan. Add onions, carrot and garlic. Saute until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and heat through on low, about 15 additional minutes.

Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side dish.

October 19, 2011: Cream of Asparagus Soup

If you’re making asparagus as a side dish, don’t throw out the woody stalks. Save them to make this delicious soup, which is a great way to prevent lots of leftovers in your refrigerator from going to waste (feel free to add other veggies such as celery, potatoes, cauliflower, etc.).

Cream of Asparagus Soup

1 T. butter

½ yellow or white onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 carrot, peeled and chopped into big chunks

Ends from 1 pound of asparagus, coarsely chopped

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 t. sea salt

½ t. black pepper

½ cup heavy cream

Melt the butter over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until slightly softened. Add carrot and asparagus and sauté for five more minutes. Add chicken stock and seasonings; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Cook for about 10 – 15 minutes, or until all vegetables are soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

When slightly cooled, pour mixture into a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Press puree through a fine mesh strainer back into the saucepan. Heat to low and add heavy cream. Cook just until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Makes 2 cups soup.

September 28, 2011: Lentil and Sausage Stew Recipe

I don’t know about the weather in your neck of the woods, but around here it’s getting downright chilly at night and in the mornings. It won’t be long now before we get our first freeze.

As the weather gets cooler and the days get shorter, I start thinking about making hot, hearty dishes like stew and soup for dinner. Here’s one that used up a lot of food in my refrigerator. Feel free to substitute other meats and vegetables that you may have in your fridge; adding some greens is a flavorful addition and ham would work equally well with the flavor profile of this dish. To me, there are no hard and fast rules for soup ingredients; experiment with what you’ve got!

Lentil and Sausage Stew

1 T. olive oil

2 cups chopped white or yellow onion (about 2 medium onions)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ cups sliced carrots

1 pound smoked sausage (I used jalapeno cheddar but any variety is fine), sliced

1 pound lentils, rinsed and drained

4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth

1 t. dried sage

1 T. dried fennel seeds

½ t. black pepper

1 t. salt (or to taste)

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven to medium low. Add onion, garlic and carrots and cook until vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add sausage, lentils, broth and spices. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 45 minutes, until lentils are soft.  

Note: You may need to add extra water if the stew is too thick.

You can also make this recipe in a slow cooker. Just add all ingredients to your crock pot in the morning and by dinner time all of the ingredients should be thoroughly cooked.

September 23, 2011: Copper Pennies Salad Recipe

As I shared with you, we held the Women’s Bible Club meeting at my house Tuesday morning. Everyone was asked to bring a salad. Margaret brought what she called Copper Pennies. Apparently this is an old recipe that is currently making a comeback (as they say, everything old is new again).

She had lots left over so I kept some of her copper pennies and served it to my husband and our friend with dinner that night. They absolutely loved it! Here is Margaret’s recipe.

Copper Pennies

3 cans sliced carrots, drained

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced green peppers

1 cup chopped green onions

Dressing:

1 can tomato soup

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Combine vegetables. Combine dressing ingredients in a saucepan; salt to taste. Bring to boil and pour over carrot mixture. Let stand several hours for best flavor.

Now, if you want to modernize it a bit (like I’m included to do), I would use fresh carrots and steam them. I’m thinking balsamic vinegar and olive oil would be a good combination in the dressing, too. And some freshly cracked black pepper along with a fresh herb, such as dill or basil, would add to the flavor.

Note: The recipes I found online also included a half cup of sugar. That would be a bit sweet for my tastes, but you could try adding a tablespoon or so. Some also called for Worcestershire sauce.