RECIPES – Page 260 – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME

How to replace Campbell’s condensed soups from scratch

I am not supposed to eat processed and preserved foods on a normal basis so have been working on replacing creamed condensed soup with “scratch” ingredients. The following recipes make perfect substitutes for 1 can of soup.

BASIC

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk in flour and salt and cook until bubbly.
Remove from heat and gradually whisk in liquid.
Return to heat and cook, stirring, until smooth and thickened to desired consistency.

CREAM OF CHICKEN

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup chicken stock

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk in flour, poultry seasoning and salt.
Cook until bubbly.
Remove from heat and gradually whisk in liquid.
Return to heat and cook, stirring, until smooth and thickened to desired consistency.

CREAM OF CELERY

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

1 cup milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add. chopped celery and finely chopped onion. Saute’ until tender.
Whisk in flour and salt and cook until bubbly.
Remove from heat and gradually whisk in liquid.
Return to heat and cook, stirring, until smooth and thickened to desired consistency.

CREAM OF MUSHROOM

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup chopped mushrooms

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

1 cup milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Add. chopped mushrooms and finely chopped onion. Saute’ until tender.
Whisk in flour and salt and cook until bubbly.
Remove from heat and gradually whisk in liquid.
Return to heat and cook, stirring, until smooth and thickened to desired consistency.

CREAM OF TOMATO

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup pureed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups milk

dash each of garlic salt, onion salt, basil, and oregano.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk in flour and seasonings and cook until bubbly.
Add tomato puree’ and blend well.
Remove from heat and gradually whisk in liquid.
Return to heat and cook, stirring, until smooth and thickened to desired consistency.

NUTTY MUSHROOM CASHEW CHICKEN

NUTTY MUSHROOM CASHEW CHICKEN

4 chicken breast halves, cut into bite sized pieces

1 small bunch green onions, sliced

1 ounce dehydrated Maitake mushrooms, re-hydrated and then chopped

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons oil
2 cup hot chicken broth
2 teaspoon lemon juice
½ cup cashews
cooked rice

Heat canola oil over medium high heat until JUST sizzling.
Saute’ green onions and mushrooms until tender. Using a slotted spoon remove onions and Maitake mushrooms to drain on paper towels.
Stir fry chicken in hot oil in frying pan or wok until chicken is lightly brown and tender, about 8 minutes.
Remove chicken from oil and drain excess oil from the pan.
Whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and the Worcestershire sauce.
Blend well, then add chicken stock to the pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened.
Add lemon juice; add chicken pieces, onions and mushrooms and reheat. Do not boil.
Taste to correct seasonings.
Add cashews.
Serve over hot rice.

He all but licked his plate!

Don’t forget to enter the new giveaway!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole ~ the SCRATCH version

This is another recipe that was full of boxed, canned or preserved ingredients that I changed to “scratch” ingredients. It was another great success and will be a wonderful cold weather dish this winter.

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU CASSEROLE

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

2 cups cooked chicken pieces (2 large breasts)**

1 cup ham steak, diced

1 bunch green onions, sliced thin

4 cups cooked egg noodles

1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese

2 slices swiss cheese

salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly spray 9×9 baking dish.
Melt the butter in saucepan.
Whisk in the flour, poultry seasoning and salt and cook until bubbly.
Remove from heat and gradually whisk in liquid.
Return to heat and cook, stirring, until smooth and thickened.
Set aside to cool.
Cook noodles, drain and set aside to cool.
Spray a skillet with PURE.
Over medium high heat saute chicken pieces and onions until chicken is cooked through.
Add ham pieces and heat through.
To the cooled soup mixture add the mayonnaise, parsley flakes and blend well.
Stir in the chicken, ham and onion mixture until well mixed.
Fold in egg noodles gently.
Arrange in baking dish.
Bake 20 minutes.
Top with cheese (see picture above).
Bake 10 more minutes.
Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

**This is a great recipe to use with rotisserie chicken!

Veggie Tales by Kris! Pasta Time!

I love pasta. I think that it’s safe to say that I have an obsession with it. I love coming up with new ways to incorporate vegetables into my pasta dishes, and here is my latest creation! Have a great weekend and enjoy!

Angel Hair with Shaved Carrot and Zucchini Ribbons

{serves 4-5 hungry Italians!}

What you need:

1 box/lb of Angel hair pasta

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup pasta water

1/4 cup, 2 tablespoons olive oil

5-6 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

sea salt and pepper to taste

2 large carrots, peeled and shaved in ribbons

1 summer squash, shaved into ribbons
2 pinches dried oregano

3/4 cup white wine

1 lemon juiced, zest

1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley

1/2 cup freshly chopped basil

1/2 cup, plus extra garnish Parmesan cheese

What you’ll do:

Boil water for pasta. Salt it and add bay leaf. Add pasta and cook until al dente. About 7-8 minutes. Angel hair is quicker than other pastas.
Meanwhile, in a LARGE saucepan heat 2 tablespoon oil. Add pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute.
Add carrot and zucchini ribbon shavings. Salt and pepper the veggies.
Add the oregano. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
Add in garlic and white wine. Bring to simmer for about 10 minutes. Let the alcohol cook down.
Add lemon juice and zest. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. When pasta is done, save 1/2 cup of the water.
Drain pasta and discard bay leaf. Transfer pasta to a large bowl.
Add 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup parmesan, salt and pepper and stir up so that pasta is flavored and coated.
Dump the veggie mixture over the pasta.
Add in fresh herbs and toss.
Transfer helping to serving dishes and garnish with any extra herbs and cheese. DELISH!

TEX-MEX GREEN BEANS

This recipe originally called for ALL processed ingredients ~ from canned green beans to sweet and low, Hormel bacon bits and Campbell’s soup. I brought it into the “from scratch” world and it was a huge success around here!

TEX MEX GREEN BEANS

4 cups fresh green beans, chopped

1 Vidalia onion, sliced thin & chopped, divided

1/4 pound bacon, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons chili seasoning

2 + 2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup pureed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a saucepan, over medium heat, sauté chopped onions in 2 tablespoons butter until translucent.
Remove from the heat.
Whisk in the flour so that no lumps remain.
Slowly whisk in the tomato puree.
Return to the heat and add salt to taste.
Cook until just boiling.
Let cool 10 minutes then slowly stir in milk.
Set aside.
In a large skillet brown bacon pieces until crisp.
Remove to paper towel to drain.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter and saute’ green beans, onion rings and garlic until tender crisp.
Add brown sugar, chili seasoning, tomato soup and bacon bits.
Combine until well blended.
Bake 10-15 minutes.

Mexican ‘Fondue’ with Chorizo & Tomatillo Salsa

When you are grilling for guests, people are always hungry before the food is ready so I’m always on the prowl for good appetizers to keep the wolves at bay while I’m finishing on the grill.

I had some Mexican chorizo sausage that I needed to use tonight and wanted to try something I had not made before. I decided to try this dish that I saw on Serious Eats a while back.

Mexican ‘Fondue’ with Chorizo & Tomatillo Salsa

adapted from Serious Eats

4 ea flour or corn tortillas

1 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded

1/2 cup queso Cotija, aneejo, or manchego, grated

1/2 lb Mexican chorizo

tomatillo salsa

1 avocado, sliced

Cut each tortilla into 6ths with a pizza cutter. Spray or brush lightly with olive oil and bake 7 minutes in a 400f oven until crisp.

Crumble and brown the chorizo in a hot skillet. Drain.

Reduce oven heat to 375f. In a small oven proof dish, spread half the cheese and bake until the cheese begins melting, about 5 minutes.

For the manchego, I used Cumberland cheese from local Locust Grove Farm. It is their manchego cheese base with green peppercorns, sweet red chili’s, onion, garlic, and ginger. Yeah, how awesome is that?

Top with the cooked and drained chorizo. Top that with the rest of the cheese mix. Bake for another 5-7 minutes until the top layer of cheese is melted.

Finish for a minute under a broiler but we forgot that part.

Serve with the tomatillo salsa, chips, and avocado.

While the flavor was very good, I would have liked for the texture to be a little more “saucy”. Next time I’d probably take half of the cheese and melt it into a white sauce to make a cheese sauce to pour over the chorizo and cheese.

Ahhhhhhh Summer Salads really hit the spot

We don’t buy bottled dressing around here as you can see from the list below. I cannot stress how much better dressings made fresh taste. Any one of these dressings is great with this combination of flavors.

6 cups torn romaine lettuce

2 vine ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch green onions, sliced thin (I like the larger Mexican ones)

1 chicken breast per person, grilled, & sliced

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup grapes, quartered

salt & pepper to taste

1 recipe of:

SIMPLY DELICIOUS SUNDAY ~ ROAST PORK TENDERLOIN

This is my favorite method of cooking pork tenderloin. Bring the tenderloin to room temperature 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Lightly coat your ovenproof skillet with oil and sear the tenderloin over a medium-high heat and brown all sides. Salt and pepper to taste while searing.

If you’re using a glaze, apply it now. The glaze I like is in the recipe below.

Place skillet in the oven and roast 15 to 20 minutes per pound, until internal temperature is 145 degrees. Remove from the oven, tent the pork with foil and let it rest about 5 minutes before serving. If you don’t use a glaze, make a quick pan sauce by deglazing the skillet with chicken broth, wine, fruit juice or another flavorful liquid.

Take its temperature ~ The tenderloin’s small size and leanness make it extremely susceptible to overcooking. The National Pork Board suggests cooking to a final internal temperature of 160 degrees, which can be achieved by cooking to 155 degrees and removing the tenderloin from the oven to rest 10 minutes (the temperature will rise several degrees). But, gourmet chef’s prefer removing the pork at 145 or 150 degrees (it is perfectly safe at this temperature) and letting it rest for 5 minutes.

For a glazed version try this recipe:

TROPICAL GLAZED PORK TENDERLOIN
2-3 pound pork tenderloin
1 cup apricot pineapple preserves
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Whisk together brown sugar and pineapple juice.
Blend in preserves.
generously salt and pepper the pork loin.
Spread a small layer of the glaze on the bottom of the roasting pan.
Lay the pork loin on top and spread the remaining glaze on top and along the sides.
Baste as necessary
Bake 45 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 150 degrees.

DEVIL’S FOOD ORANGE CAKE with ORANGE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Hi Tamy here filling in for Jen this morning and I thought I’d share one of my niece’s favorite cakes with you.

I don’t seem to have a picture of the iced cake, but it was yummy!

CAKE

4 medium navel oranges, room temperature
3 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 Jumbo eggs
1 cup whole milk
2 cups flour

Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Generously grease a Bundt pan (I like a decorative Nordicware or Wilton pan)
Squeeze oranges, saving pulp
Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Then add 1/2 cup of the sugar, the cinnamon and 1/2 cup of the orange juice, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cool.
Mix the baking soda into 2 teaspoons of orange juice.
In a large mixing bowl cream the shortening with 1 cup sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
Alternate the milk and flour, sifting the flour into the cream mixture and blend until smooth.
Add the baking soda mixture and blend well.
Add the cooled chocolate mixture and blend well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Level pan by dropping on counter top to remove air bubbles.
Bake until springy 55-60 minutes.
Cool 10 minutes and then invert onto platter.
Cool before frosting.

FROSTING

1/2 cup butter, softened
5 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, pulp and all
2 teaspoon orange zest

Beat butter until fluffy.
Beat in 1/2 of the powdered sugar until smooth.
Add orange juice, vanilla and orange peel. Blend until smooth.
Slowly add the remaining sugar and blend until silky.
Adjust sugar and orange juice until desired consistency and flavor is reached.

If you don’t have this mess in the end,
you did it wrong!

LEMON PARMIGIANO BASIL PASTA

I searched for a lemon recipe to go along with Dave’s choice for the lemon mystery ingredient this month and was pleased to find this gem. It looks plain, but packs a punch with all the lemon juice.

LEMON PARMIGIANO BASIL PASTA

1 pound Country Pasta egg noodles

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

2 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 cups firmly packed basil leaves, slivered

In a large pot, cook pasta in salted, boiling water until al dente. Place a colander over a large serving bowl, then drain pasta into it (hot water will warm bowl). Pour water from bowl, wipe bowl dry, then empty pasta into it.
Meanwhile, combine cheese and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl. Gradually beat in olive oil until mixture becomes thick and creamy and cheese “melts” into oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in lemon zest.
Pour sauce over cooked pasta in serving bowl; toss thoroughly. Add basil, toss again and serve.

BOEUF FLAMANDE aka BEEF IN DARK BEER, well sort of

I previously posted this over at OUR KrAzy kitchen, but it is worth repeating ~ it was that good!

I found this recipe in the bottom of grams pile of magazine/book clippings to try one day. It just screamed, “try me for the guys”. BOEUF FLAMANDE translates into ‘Beef Stew in a rich sauce made with beer’. But I don’t like dark beer so I adjusted the recipe and it worked really well. The guys we’re asking when we’re doing the leftovers. This will be perfect on a cold winter’s night!

BOEUF FLAMANDE
1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/4″ cubes
3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into bite size pieces (I used brisket)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large Vidalia onions, cut into thin slices
2 large carrots, sliced
1/2 cup flour + dredging flour
1/2 cup Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce
3/4 cup Dr. Pepper (yep you read that right)
3 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons Better than Beef Bouillon
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
fresh parsley sprigs

Preheat oven 325 degrees.
Place the flour into a plastic bag.
Brown bacon pieces until crisp. With a slotted spoon remove to drain.
Dredge beef pieces in the flour mixture.
Brown beef pieces in bacon fat*. With a slotted spoon remove beef pieces to a colander to drain.
Add butter to saute pan.
Saute’ carrots for several minutes.
Add the onions and garlic until fragrant and translucent.
Stir in 1/2 cup flour, salt, pepper and thyme.
Whisk together the hot water, sugar and bouillon.
Add Country Bob’s sauce, Worcestershire sauce, champagne vinegar and Dr. Pepper until well blended.
Add to veggies.
Bring to a fast boil.
Lower heat to a simmer for 5 minutes.
Spray a casserole with PURE.
Add browned meat to the casserole.
Top with onions and carrots.
Pour sauce over top and blend well.
Bake for 2 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.
Serve over Parmesan Potatoes.

*May have to add a bit of butter or oil if not enough bacon grease.

BOEUF FLAMANDE aka BEEF IN DARK BEER, well sort of

I previously posted this over at OUR KrAzy kitchen, but it is worth repeating ~ it was that good!

Preheat oven 325 degrees.
Place the flour into a plastic bag.
Brown bacon pieces until crisp. With a slotted spoon remove to drain.
Dredge beef pieces in the flour mixture.
Brown beef pieces in bacon fat*. With a slotted spoon remove beef pieces to a colander to drain.
Add butter to saute pan.
Saute’ carrots for several minutes.
Add the onions and garlic until fragrant and translucent.
Stir in 1/2 cup flour, salt, pepper and thyme.
Whisk together the hot water, sugar and bouillon.
Add Country Bob’s sauce, Worcestershire sauce, champagne vinegar and Dr. Pepper until well blended.
Add to veggies.
Bring to a fast boil.
Lower heat to a simmer for 5 minutes.
Spray a casserole with PURE.
Add browned meat to the casserole.
Top with onions and carrots.
Pour sauce over top and blend well.
Bake for 2 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.
Serve over Parmesan Potatoes.

*May have to add a bit of butter or oil if not enough bacon grease.

Category: RECIPES