Family lore has it Liss was desperately trying to come up with a well-balanced, yet quick and easy meal one night and was limited to the ingredients she had on hand (life is not always easy for a single mom with two little ones only 20 months apart in age). This was the end result. :o)
Ingredients:
4 small cans tuna, drained
2 cans Cream of ________ soup (Liss uses celery, we use mushroom and cheddar)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
10 oz frozen peas
1 soup can of milk (I know, I know, sounds weird, but we use the can so we can get the dregs of the soup out)
1/2 cup mayo
1 bag egg noodles
Colby cheese to taste
Directions:
While you boil water for the noodles, sautee the onion until just soft--this allows them to cook fully when baking. When noodles are cooked and onions are just soft, mix everything together and pour into a greased casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
(Mom, Jess, this is right, right? I didn't forget anything?)
Simple, inelegant, delicious. :o)
--Rach
I've been busy on a home improvement project and wanted something quick and easy for dinner that we could eat on for a couple of days. Enter this easy potato soup that I sort of made up.
Ingredients:
*about 3 pounds potatoes, cubed
*1 onion, diced
*3 cartons chicken broth
*6 T flour
*1 1/2 cups milk
*1 1/2 blocks cheddar cheese
*sour cream
*bacon
*chives, chopped
I have a large crock pot, so this fits my pot. You may have to modify accordingly. Put potatoes, onion and broth in crock pot set on low. Cook all day. I cranked mine to high about two hours before I was ready to eat.
Mix flour and milk and add to soup. It will be cloudy and thicken, about twenty minutes. Add cheese (more or less to taste) and allow to melt, stirring it to help it along.
Serve in bowls with a dollop of sour cream, bacon and chives. It's thick, hearty and tasty. :o)
--Rach
Brien's Granny was born and raised in south Luzianna and grew up cooking Cajun goodness. She brought these recipes to Brien and his family when she would come to visit. Her style of cooking involved LOTS of garlic, "pepper" (cayenne!), and sea food. Mm.
She had moved to Williamsburg prior to her death, and even though she could no longer see, I can remember her standing in the kitchen with Brien, imparting her knowledge and wisdom of cooking all things yummy. I'm not sure what triggered it, but recently, B has had a hankering for seafood gumbo. He took himself into the kitchen and went about replicating Granny's recipes--for of course, nothing was written down, it was all in her head.
Well, we think this recipe is now ready to share:
Granny's Gumbo
Ingredients:
1 cup bell pepper
1 cup celery
1 cup onion
1 cup carrots
6-8 cloves garlic
1/2 cup flour
1 stick butter
chicken stock
2 pounds meat of your choice
1/8-1/2 t ground red pepper (depends on how spicy you like it!)
salt to taste
Prep:
1 cup onion
1 cup celery
1 cup carrots
1 cup bell pepper
(I typically chop it fairly fine so it will cook quickly)
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
In a large Dutch oven over medium-low to medium heat, melt a stick of butter (please, NO margarine!!). When the butter has melted, gradually add in a 1/2 cup of all purpose flour. You MUST stir this constantly. It will become hot hot hot and quite sticky and has been referred to as Cajun Napalm, so be sure you don't splash any on yourself.
You will keep stirring the flour/butter mixture until it is about the color of peanut butter. Then, add the onion and garlic. After about a minute, add the remaining veggies. Cook these until they are well softened and the onion is clear, about 10 minutes or so.
Add a carton of chicken broth/stock (or, make your own), and stir until slightly thickened. Add your meat (in this case, 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined, 1 pound scallops with the small muscle removed from the side--although, this evening we made it with chicken and smoked sausage), and cook until meat is heated through or thoroughly cooked.
Add the seasonings and serve over rice.
Enjoy!
--Rach
This is definitely a comfort food for me. It combines my love of egg noodles with creamy filling and a lovely nutty Grueyer topping. It comes compliments of Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats.
Cream of Mushroom Sauce
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 T unsalted butter
12 button mushrooms, chopped
2 T all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1 cup whole milk or cream
1/8 t freshly grated nutmeg (ground works)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Casserole
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 portobello mushroom caps, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 lb fresh mixed wild mushrooms
1 T fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped (from 4 sprigs)
1/3 cup dry white whine
1 pound extra-wide egg noodles
1-2 T unsalted butter, softened
3/4 lb Gruyere or Emmentaler cheese, shredded
3 T fresh chives
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil fro the egg noodles.
To make the mushroom sauce, heat a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add the olive oil and the butter. When the butter melts, add the chopped button mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until just tender. Sprinkle in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock and bring to a bubble, then stir in the whole milk. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer. Season the sauce with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
To make the casserole, heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the 2 T olive oil then the shallots and mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms for about 8 minutes, or until tender. Season with thyme, salt and pepper and deglaze the pan with the wine. Reduce the heat to medium low and let the liquid cook off.
Preheat the broiler to high.
While the mushrooms cook, drop the egg noodles into the boiling water, salt the water, and cook the noodles al dente. Drain the noodles and return them to the hot pot. Add the creamy sauce to the pot and toss the noodles to coat in the sauce.
Lightly coat a casserole dish with the softened butter, then transfer the cream of mushroom noodles ot the dish and top with the mushroom ragout and shredded cheese. Place the casserole under the vroiler and melt and bubble the cheese until brown at the edges. Garnish with the chives.
As you can see, we were fresh out of chives. Who cares? It was still ooey gooey delicious. :o)
Enjoy!
--Rach
Nope, it's not this. :oP
This is my most favorite turkey soup recipe and I didn't have the pleasure of enjoying it until I started dating Brien. This recipe comes to you all courtesy of Nana. (And, YES, I should have posted this BEFORE Thanksgiving, but I only thought about it this evening since it's dinner for the next week. )
Ingredients:
1 turkey carcass
4 quarts water
1 cup butter
1 cup flour
3 onions, chopped
2 large carrots, diced (I just sliced 'em)
2 stalks celery, diced
1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
2 t salt
3/4 t pepper
2 cups half and half
Directions:
Place turkey carcass and water in large dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer one hour. Remove carcass from broth and pick meat from bones (thank you bunches, Bob, for leaving ours so meat heavy!). Set broth and meat aside. Measure broth. Add water if necessary to equal 3 quarts.
Heat butter in a large dutch oven (I simply use the same one). Add flour and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for five minutes (I use a whisk to eliminate lumps)--this makes a roux. Stir carrots, onions, and celery into the roux. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring often until they are softened. Add broth, turkey, rice, slat and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Add half and half and cook until thoroughly heated.
Enjoy! :o)
--Rach
This is a VERY simple recipe that is pulled together and cooked up in about 30-45 minutes.
Ingredients:
1 box jumbo shells
1 jar marinara
1 large carton ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded Parmesan
1 egg
salt and pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
While shells are cooking, mix together ricotta, egg, salt and pepper, 2 cups mozzarella. Drain shells and cool enough to handle. Fill shells (this recipe will fill about 20 shells) and nestle together in a greased 9"x13" pan. Cover in marinara and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top. Top that with the shredded Parmesan. Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbling hot.
--Rachr
Since Brien is sick, Lil and I had a simple Greek tomato salad for dinner.
Ingredients:
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cucumber, halved and cut about 1/4" slices
1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced
3/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1 1/2 cups feta, crumbled
2T extra virgin olive oil
1T red wine vinegar
1T lemon juice
1/4 t oregano
salt and pepper
Directions:
Whisk olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper in small bowl. Set aside.
Combine tomatoes, cukes, green pepper, and olives in a large bowl. Toss with dressing to coat. Add feta and gently toss. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
Enjoy! :o)
--Rach
After making chili for a number of years, Brien started to experiment and finally came up with something we all enjoy--especially on cold days. :o)
12 ounces sliced bacon, cut into small pieces
1 T olive oil
2 pounds beef, pork, venison, bison, etc. (tonight we used stew meat. Flank steak or skirt steak work VERY well), cut into bite-size cubes
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 cup chili powder
1/4 t (more for more heat) ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup masa flour (we find ours in prepackaged chili mixes)
2 cans red kidney beans, undrained
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium high heat until just smoking. Add bacon and onion and cook until bacon is well browned and onion is clear, starting to carmelize. Add meat and sear in bacon and onion mixture, until brown. Add 1/2 cup chili powder and garlic to meat and stir to combine. Cook until fragrant about three minutes. Add tomato products and about 2 cups of water (more for a longer simmer or for a soupier texture). Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer uncovered for a minimum of 1 hour in order for meat to tenderize and flavors to meld. If desired, add beans for the last thirty minutes of cooking (if you are going to simmer all day, take this into consideration). At this time, you will also add the masa flour mixed with cold water, enough to dissolve flour into a pourable mixture, and cayenne.
Cook for an additional thirty mintues and serve.
I was craving Greek spaghetti Thursday evening and decided to try and recreate the recipe found at The Cellar. They have the best Greek spaghetti and I am always BEGGING to eat at The Cellar when we visit the 'burg. 
I sauteed yellow squash, zucchini, sliced baby bellas and green onions in olive oil in a large frying pan. When they were almost soft, but not quite, I added four minced cloves of garlic and a half pint of sliced grape tomatoes.
While all the flavors were merging, I chopped some kalamata olives and crumbled feta. I removed the veggies from the heat and added the kalamatas so the flavors could fuse. I added the veggie blend to the pasta along with some olive oil and tossed and then added the crumbled feta.
This was fairly decent but I'm going to modify it next time. First off, I won't add the kalamata to the sauteed veggies. I will also use MUCH more garlic and Much less pasta (I used an entire box of capellini). I will also toss the pasta with olive oil to keep it from sticking and then add the veggies as a sauce on the top.
I look forward to trying again. Jessie, if you try a Greek spaghetti, let me know how yours turns out. :o)
--Rach