Spicy Cabbage Soup

First post in a long while, sorry about that. I've discovered it's harder to justify cooking new fancy stuff when it's only for me. I've been trying to get back on the experiment train, but haven't quite made it there yet.

It's cold out. Cold and wet. Recently I've been feeling a bit sluggish and behind in everything, I needed to clean myself up. As I'm sure you all know I've got a penchant for rich delicious foods, regardless of calories or fat. I fall back on this soup every time I know I need to clean up my diet to feel good again. It is a truly clean and delicious soup. I can eat huge portions of it, and not feel guilty, thereby making myself feel better about needing to eat the larger amount. This soup is so full of veggies I feel good about eating it, and it helps kick my digestive system back into gear. I like mine spicy, but you can choose to tone it down. Some would say this is bland, but I find it to be the perfect mixture of veggie flavors and tomatoey goodness. Check it out, and tell me what you think!

Beef and Potato Pie

Pie. I know, there is an overwhelming amount of pie in my life. I won't apologize for it. Instead I will bring to your attention how easy it is to make pie crust and fill it with delicious things. Easy peasy guys. And you can fill it with anything! I love doing skillet pies like this in my cast iron skillet. So easy, and cleaning up is easy too!

1-2 lbs meat ( I used a chopped up chuck roast)
1 c beef broth
1 Tbsp corn starch
1-2 medium russet potatoes, sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
1/2 tsp thyme
8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper

Season your meat. Add meat to a hot pan and brown. As meat browns add your garlic. Make a slurry of beef broth and cornstarch. Add to the browned beef mixture. Once meat is cooked, remove from pan. Reserve the gravy. Add onion, thyme, mushrooms, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until onions are softened and slightly carmelized. While your onions are cooking take your potato slices and layer in the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Make sure there are no holes, this is essentially the bottom crust of your pie. Once onions are done begin assembling your pie. A layer of meat, onions, gravy, and another tight layer of potatoes, and so on. Three layers should fill your skillet. Cover with your prepared pie crust. Brush your crust with a beaten egg and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees for about an hour until the pie crust is browned, your meat has finished cooking, and the potatoes are done. Slice up and enjoy.


Beef and garlic

Mushrooms and onion

Bottom layer of potatoes.

Layers

Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients
3-4 potatoes mashed with cheddar cheese and bacon inside
olive oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
3 carrots
1/4 lb frozen peas
2 lbs beef roast, cubed
1/4 c flour
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp ketchup
3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 box of beef stock
Rosemary
Thyme

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large pot sautee onion and carrot until softened, then add your garlic. Push to outer edge of pan. Dredge your meat in the flour and salt and pepper mixture. Brown in batches. Add all meat back to pan then add in ketchup, broth, worcestershire, and all spices. Simmer 10 to 12 minutes until thickened. Then spoon into ramekins of a large serving dish. Cover the top with your mashed potato mixture making sure to get it all the way to the edges. Sprinkle the top with more cheese. Bake your dish 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Enjoy!


Vegetables.

Saute.

Deliciously softened.

Add your meat.

And flour.

Now the spices.

Look good yet?

Stock in.

Peas!


Cover it in mashed potatoes loaded with bacon and cheese.



Eat!

Chicken and Dumplings

Yep, another stew/soup. I know you are quite possibly sick of these, but honestly guys, how easy is stew? One pot, delicious easy eating, what could be wrong? This is... not as simple as some other Chicken and dumpling recipes I've used, this is more along the lines of I guess you could say "gourmet" chicken and dumplings.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c flour
1 whole chicken cut into pieces, OR several bone in chicken thighs
Salt and Pepper
3 carrots finely diced
3 celery stalks finely diced
1 medium onion finely diced
1 tsp dried thyme
6-8 c chicken broth
1/2 c apple juice, or apple cider
1/2 c cream (optional)

Dumplings
1 c Bisquick
1/3 c milk
Paprika to sprinkle over top

In a large pot over medium low heat melt butter and oil. Add carrots, celery, and onion and saute until softened. Add in flour and mix well, cook for about two minutes. Add thyme, and pepper. Add chicken broth and apple juice. Stir well, no clumping wanted. Add chicken pieces, bring to boil. Boil 25 to 30 minutes until chicken is tender and cooked through. Then pull it out, shred the chicken and remove all bones and nasty stuff. Add back into the pot. At this point your soup should be thickened nicely. Turn down the heat a bit you want a gentle simmer. Mix together your dumpling ingredients. Drop by spoonful in small amounts on top of the simmering liquid. Sprinkle with Paprika and cover. Let cook 5-10 minutes until the dumplings are cooked through.

Enjoy!


Veggies

Sauteed down

Everything else in the pot

Dumplings in.

Apple and Pear Bread

I needed something homey and comforting... my house has almost not food in it... but I had apples and a few overripe pears. So today I made apple and pear bread. It was delicious. It was homey. It was gone within a few hours of making it.

Sometimes life is really crappy, and hard, and you don't think that you will be able to get up out of bed. If you feel that way take a stab at this bread. You get the joy of peeling and chopping stuff up, pulverizing some pears, whipping it all together in a big bowl, and then enjoying the moist almost cakelike texture of the bread. It's also very quick to do. The thing that takes the longest is chopping the apples.

Ingredients:

2 overripe pears (it doesn't really matter what kind), peeled and pulverized - about 3/4 of a cup
3 apples (I used 2 Granny Smiths and 1 Fuji), peeled and chopped 2-3 cups
3 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3 eggs
1 c brown sugar
3/4 c granulated sugar
1/3 c greek yogurt
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl mix dry ingredients together. In a large bowl whisk together eggs,  sugars, greek yogurt, vanilla, and smashed pears. Once well incorporated add your dry ingredients in about 3 batches. Mix well. Add apples and mix into batter. This is a thick batter, don't worry. It is dense, but very moist. Put into two greased loaf pans, and bake for 50-60 minutes. Make sure you do the toothpick test. :)


Pulverized Pears


Chopped apples

Dry Ingredients

Eggs, Yogurt, Sugars, Vanilla, and Pears.

All mixed together

Add your dry ingredients

And your apples

Pour into two greased loaf pans.
BAKE...

Mmmmmm

Apple and Pear Pie

1/4 cup unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves6 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
2 pears, firm, peeled, cored and sliced (you can halve the apples and pears, this is just what I had on hand)
Pie crust

Preheat oven to 475. Combine dry ingredients and pour over fruit. Mix together well but be gentle! Your pears will break apart if you are too rough. Put your bottom crust into a 9" pie plate. Fill with your fruit. I like to layer the fruit by hand, but it really does not matter. You can just chuck it in the plate and be done. I cover mine with a lattice top, but you can just put a regular crust on top. Make sure you brush the top crust with egg wash to get that lovely browning, I sprinkle sugar on mine as well.
Bake at 475 for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 for 35-45 minutes.
Make sure that you either put this on a cookie sheet bigger than your pie plate, or that you line underneath with tin foil, this can bubble over. Serve with vanilla ice cream for a real treat!

Shrimp Etouffee

The literal translation of this is Smothered Shrimp. And yes... yes it is. Smothered in a rich, spicy, and enticing seafood gravy. If you have never experienced this dish please, PLEASE try it. It's amazing. And yes, this has mushrooms. If you do not like mushrooms go ahead and leave them out. I had some on hand, and I'm all for adding volume to my food without adding a lot of extra fat and calories... I get enough of those in what I make anyway. :)
Ingredients:
1/4 c vegetable oil
heaping 1/4 c flour
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, deseeded and finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 8 oz bottle clam juice
1 Tbsp Cajun Seasoning (I used a homemade spice blend)
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 Tbsp paprika 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
pinch red pepper flakes (more if you want some real heat)
1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 lbs shrimp, no shells or tails
3-6 green onions, finely sliced
hot sauce

Begin by making a roux. In your pot over medium heat add the oil and let it heat through, then add your flour. Whisk together VERY well. You don't want a lumpy roux. Whisk occasionally and cook to a peanut butter brown color and gives off a nutty aroma, this will take somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and celery. Stir well and cook 3-4 minutes to start them softening up. The add your mushrooms and garlic. Stir in well. Be sure not to burn your garlic here. You need to cook this about two minutes. Then slowly add your clam juice. You're looking for a syrupy consistency here. The roux will help thicken it up as it cooks, but don't add too much liquid. If you need more liquid you can add water, or chicken stock. Add in all of the spices, and the Worcestershire. TASTE. Add salt and pepper accordingly. Add your shrimp (I throw mine in frozen, but you can thaw yours or if you can get GOOD fresh seafood that's even better). Cover and cook about 10-15 minutes until your shrimp are curled and pink. Serve sprinkled with green onion, and hot sauce, over rice. Serves 4. I like this over rice cooked with a bay leaf or two, then coated with butter. :D

 
The team.
 
Beginning of the roux
 
Mmmmmm peanut buttery... oh wait... ;)
 
Sautee the veg.
 
Add the mushrooms and garlic
Add clam juice and spices.
Shrimp!
 
 Mmmmmmm
 
Oooooh yeaaaah. What do you think? Are you a fan of seafood? Have you tried Creole or Cajun food?