Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a charity event called Soup and Soul Milwaukee. A $15 donation provided you a total of 12 soups and unlimited tasting. I was looking forward to volunteering my time and my soup to be included in 1 of the 12. Cooking delicious food for others is one of my favorite things to do, so I was happy to be able to get my food out there to people I didn't know, instead of my regular crew.

I decided to make a Stuffed Green Pepper soup from a recipe my Mom had found and makes often. The funny thing is I think this soup tastes better than it sounds, I guess for me anyway. I'm not a huge fan of stuffed peppers. Well, I guess I should say I just never make the dish. But the soup version is one of my favorites. Hearty, meaty, and oh so flavorful.

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

Ingredients

-2 lbs ground beef

-1 large onion, chopped

-2 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes

-1 - 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice (or white if you prefer)

-2 liters beef stock

-3 green or red peppers, or a combination of both

-10 tablespoons brown sugar

-4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar 

-5 tablespoons A1 steak sauce

-salt and pepper

-2 teaspoons celery salt

In a large skillet, brown meat and onions with salt and pepper. Add green peppers and cook an additional 5 minutes. Transfer the meat and pepper mixture to a large soup pot. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and simmer 45 minutes  or until rice is cooked.

I do not have any pictures of the finished product, but I do have one of me serving it up at the event.

Buffalo Chicken Mac 'N Cheese

Mac 'N Cheese. My favorite to eat, my favorite to make. Nothing says comfort like a big bowl of noodley, cheesey goodness.
I'm not going to lie, even though I love making my own versions of mac 'n cheese, I still occasionally will make the 'ol standby Kraft, blue box version. Spirals were my go to as a kid, but the shapes always tasted the best to me. It also helped that my mom always made it with extra butter. Like a half of stick.

Boy, do I love butter.

I have a basic version of mac 'n cheese that I've been making for a couple of years now that I have to say I've perfected. I've now started experimenting with different flavors with the recipe and decided to try my hand in a Buffalo Chicken version.

Buffalo Chicken Mac 'N Cheese

Ingredients

-3 heaping cups uncooked Cavatappi pasta
-1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
-1 lb ground chicken
-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
-1/4 cup sliced green onions (about 4 medium)
-4-6 slices of cooked bacon, chopped
-3 stalks celery, chopped
-3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
-1/4-1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot (depending on how hot you like it)
-Salt and pepper
-1 tablespoon of garlic, minced
-1 teaspoon cayenne

Topping

-1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips
-1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-2 teaspoons olive oil

Brown ground chicken and celery in a large pan on medium heat. Brown until chicken is fully cooked and celery starts to get soft.

Cook pasta as directed on box until al dente. Drain and set to the side.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 13x9 inch (3 quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Heat heavy whipping cream, salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and stir in cheddar cheese with a wire whisk until smooth. Remove from heat.


Add cooked pasta to a large bowl. Pour cheese sauce mixture evenly on to pasta. Stir in Red Hot, green onions, cooked bacon and blue cheese. Pour into baking dish.



In a small bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and crushed tortilla chips together and stir in olive oil. Sprinkle evenly over the top of macaroni mixture.

Bake uncovered 15-20 minutes or until the dish is bubbling and top is golden brown.

Casserole Season

Fall is officially here. Sweater weather. Leaves changing. Football watching. Pumpkin EVERYTHING! And we cannot forget, casserole season. I guess I don't really need it to be fall for that, but the cooler weather does make me want to crank up the heat in the oven.

I love casseroles. It's kinda my thing. I can take pretty much any dish and convert it into a casserole. If I need to feed a crowd, I look to my 9 x 13 in pan. Here are two casseroles that I've made recently for feeding a room full of Packers fan.

Biscuit-topped Cowboy Casserole

Ingredients

-2 lbs lean ground beef
-1 onion, chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 small shallot, chopped
-2 cans (4 oz) diced green chiles
-1 can tomato sauce
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 can of corn
-1 cup of Acini di pepe pasta, dry
-2 cups of coby-jack cheese
-1 cup sour cream
-chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper to taste
-1 box of Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuit mix + ingredients listed on box
Or
-1 tube of refrigerated biscuits

In a large skillet, brown beef, onion, garlic and shallot over medium heat until meat is brown and onions are translucent. Add green chiles, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, corn and seasonings and cook about 10 minutes. At the same time, cook pasta, drain and set aside. Add coby-jack cheese and sour cream to meat mixture and stir until cheese is melted. Mix in pasta. Pour into a 9 x 13 in pan.







Make Cheddar Bay biscuits according to instructions on the box. Drop biscuit mixture on top of casserole, making 12 small biscuits to cover the top. Alternatively you could use refrigerated biscuit dough and place on top.

Cook in a preheated 400 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and casserole is bubbling.


Ok, my next recipe doesn't have casserole in the title, but I would still call it one.

Beef Stroganoff. Comfort food at it's finest.



French Onion Beef Stroganoff
Lovingly adapted from this recipe

Ingredients

-3-4 lb beef chuck roast
-1/2 cup butter
-2 onions, cut into long strips
-3-4 garlic cloves, minced
-1 bay leaf
-2-3 sprigs of thyme
-12 oz baby bella mushrooms, cut into slices
-1/4 cup red wine
-2 cups beef broth
-1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
-1/2 bag of egg noodles (about 5 cups dry)
-1 cup sour cream
-2 cups grated Gruyere
-1/4 cup fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste

Cook the chuck roast in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours. Let roast cool, slice into bite sized pieces and set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until onions are caramelized, about 20 minutes.

Add mushrooms and saute until cooked. Discard bay leaf and remove thyme leaves from stem and discard stem. Add beef to skillet.
Add wine, beef broth and Worcestershire to pan and simmer until slightly reduced.



As this is reducing, cook eggs noodles according to package. Drain and set aside.

Remove beef mixture from heat and stir in sour cream.
Stir together noodles and beef mixture in a large dutch oven until combined.

Top with Gruyere cheese and bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.














Happy Fall.


Happy full belly's.


Happy Casserole-ing.

Beet Hummus

Beets are quickly becoming my new favorite vegetable. Healthy, not to mention a beautiful color, and now currently in season.
Most of the time when I buy beets, I like to make them into a breakfast hash or pickle them, but I recently found a recipe for beet hummus that sounded like something I had to try.

Beet Hummus

Ingredients

-8 medium sized beets, scrubbed clean, roasted, peeled and cubed
-1/2 of a 15 oz can of chick peas (garbanzo beans)
-2-3 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
-5-6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
-4 garlic cloves
-1-2 tbsp olive oil
-pinch of cumin
-salt and pepper to taste

To roast beets, cut tops off, place beets in tin foil with a drizzle of olive or vegetable oil. Cook in 375 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour until a knife can be inserted and removed easily. Cool.

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.



I think I also really like beets because they go along so well with goat cheese. So I like to serve this whipped goat cheese recipe with the beet hummus, to make it that much more delicious.



Whipped Goat Cheese

Ingredients

-7 oz fresh goat cheese
-3 oz cream cheese
-1/3 cup heavy cream
-2 tbsp olive oil.

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Add salt to taste.


Serve both together with pita chips or a fresh baguette. Enjoy fresh or make a head of time, can be stored in the fridge for a few days.

Winter Meals - Soup and Bread

It's cold. I know it's cold, you know it's cold. Even if you're not Wisconsin like I am, everyone has been plagued by horrendous cold lately.
I'm actually grateful that we get to experience the glory of all 4 seasons, winter gives me an excuse to just hunker down and stay inside for the weekend. And with my self proclaimed quarantine this weekend, since I caught a cold while traveling, I decided to make soup to warm me up and heal my cold.
My travels had brought me a week prior to Goa, India. While vacationing there, I was lucky enough to visit a spice plantation and brought back with me some wonderful (and cheap!) spices. I picked the following recipe because it called for some of the spices I had picked up on my excursion.


Spiced Bean Soup with Rice and Tomato
Adapted from this recipe 

- 2 medium onions
- 5 garlic cloves
- 5 slices of bacon
- salt and pepper
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 16 oz frozen lima beans (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 brown rice

Chop bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Saute bacon in large saucepan over medium heat until crisp and remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Process onions and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add onions and garlic to bacon grease, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes.

Add cumin, coriander and allspice and cook until onions start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook about another 5 minutes or so.


Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Add rice, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, approximately 20-25 minutes. Add lima beans and simmer, partially covered, an additional 20 minutes until rice and beans are soft. Add crumbled bacon as a garnish or right back into the soup pot.  


Serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired.
   



Now I know lima beans aren't everyone's favorite, but give them a chance! I feel like they are that childhood food that you love to hate, just like Brussels sprouts. But we all now love Brussels sprouts (because they are trendy and delicious) and I believe you can love lima beans too.



So I've been hoarding bananas in my freezer for a couple months now, vowing that I'll make banana bread soon. Finally I was able to fulfill this promise to myself. I dug out my Kitchen-Aid mixer, thawed a few ripe bananas and got to baking.

Cookie Butter Banana Bread

- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 cup Trader Joe's brand cookie butter (you can also use Nutella)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda & salt.

In a stand mixer, cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Add mashed bananas, milk and vanilla and beat until combined. Slowly add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined.

In a small microwave save bowl, add cookie butter and heat for 15-30 seconds. Stir to evenly mix and add 1 cup of banana bread mixture and mix well.

Spoon cookie butter mixture alternately with plain banana bread mixture into loaf pan. Swirl batters together with a knife.

Bake 50-60 minutes. Cool in pan for at least 15 minutes and then remove from pan to cool on wire rack.





If you haven't tried this Trader Joe's cookie butter yet, I suggest you run out and buy some. It is wonderful.

The only way to make eating this bread more delightful is to slather in with butter. This is how I like to eat most baked goods.

Meatballs

Happy New Year! Well, almost.

I was never much for New Years resolutions, but in 2014 I decided I needed a way of keeping track of the wonderful food dishes I've created and wanted to share my experiences with anyone who wanted to join. This blog was my resolution and I'm happy and even a little surprised to say I stuck with it. 15, well I guess now 16, posts over the course of a year, I averaged over the 1 per month quota I gave myself and for that I am proud.

So now for 2015 I will to continue to resolve to cook more delicious food and document it for not only myself, but for those who are there to eat it or want to attempt to make it themselves. Or for those who just enjoy reading and supporting my journey.


Now, let's eat!


Meatballs 

I am a homemade meatball purist; I have to admit I cringe a little at the sight of a package of frozen meatballs. OK, I admit, I'm am kind of a meatball snob. But I blame it on the technique I've learned my from my step-dad, which I will share today. I do have to brag, these are my favorite variety. My roommate has another family recipe, which supposedly came from Gene Stapleton somehow, that comes in at a close second. Both use the same basic formula, but have different and unique flavors. So when meatballs are being made at my house, it's usually a meatball-off, one versus the other.

From the piece of notebook paper on my fridge, here is my version, adapted from Damian Schmitt's recipe.

3 lbs ground chuck
2 sleeves of saltine crackers, finely crushed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
1-2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper
fresh basil, finely chopped




And from the mind of my roommate, adapted from Gene Stapleton's recipe

3 lbs ground chuck
1 sleeve of cocktail rye bread, crumbled
1 medium onion
2 eggs
salt and pepper
2-3 tbsp caraway seeds (optional and can add more or less depending if you like them or not)

For both varieties, add all ingredients into a large bowl and mix by hand. Form into balls, about 1,5 to 2 inches round. Size consistency is the key to them cooking evenly. Place on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Even though these meatballs are delightful on their own, they are best stewing in a sauce. Plus, each variety has to have their own unique sauce.

For the saltine variety, I've learned to make a simple and savory sauce that consists of equal parts Coke-a-Cola and ketchup. I add oregano, more finely chopped basil, salt and pepper, garlic powder. I think the seasoning change every time until it tastes right. And there you have it.

For the rye bread variety, if your in a pinch, you can use a can of cream of mushroom soup from your shelf in the pantry, but if you want to be super fancy, which I often want to be, you can make your own.

This sauce was adapted from Alton Brown's Green Bean Casserole recipe, where you make your own mushroom soup for the dish. Half and half and butter are used. Need I say more?

Cream of mushroom soup sauce

2 tbsp butter
12 oz of mushrooms, finely chopped (I use the food processor)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Melt the butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute.



Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half-and-half. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally.

Yeah, remember how I said my version of meatballs were my favorite, well after adding this sauce to the second version, I have to say they stand on even pedestals now. If we would have had more left over, I would have loved to add these to the top of egg noodles and made a Swedish meatball concoction. But, alas, there were about 3 left by the time my friends dug into them.

Unrolled Cabbage Rolls

It's been a year since I've bought ground beef from the grocery store.

The reason isn't because of some fad diet or a beef shortage, it's because I've had about 30 lbs of ground beef in my freezer from the portion of cow my household bought about 1 year ago. The dish I am about to describe has used up the last of this delicious ground beef. I have never in my life tasted such flavorful ground beef. Just knowing too it's all beef, no fillers or pink slim, and from a cow that was raised and grazed in Wisconsin makes it all the better.

The last packet was used to make a cabbage roll skillet of sorts, I'm calling Unrolled Cabbage Rolls. I had leftover cabbage from coleslaw I made last week and was trying to come up with an idea of how to use it up. Having just got our NEW cow, and twice as much meat this time, I also wanted to use up that last ground beef packet. With these factors, it was obvious what had to be done.

But traditional cabbage rolls can be a bit of a pain to make and even eat. Considering I am a self proclaimed casserole/skillet/things that are other things queen, I figured, lets make this easier and just throw it all together in a pan. Brilliant! Easy! Fun!

Unrolled Cabbage Rolls

- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 small head of cabbage, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 10-15 fresh plum tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 cup - 1 1/2 cups tomato juice or V8
- 2 cups rice, cooked
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- turmeric, all spice, paprika, salt, pepper, Java rub to taste


Cook rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top. Brown ground beef in large skillet. Add onions, 1/2 the parsley and garlic and continue to brown until onions are translucent. Add seasonings to taste.

Add both canned and fresh tomatoes and 1/2 the tomato juice. Simmer uncovered for about 10-15 minutes until the fresh tomatoes are wilted.

 

Add the remainder of the parsley, cabbage and the rest of the tomato juice to skillet and continue to cook for about 10 minutes uncovered until cabbage is just cooked. Be careful not to overcook, you still want a little crunch to the cabbage. Add more seasoning to taste,

Combine with the cooked rice and that's it!

You can use all green cabbage, but I used red cabbage and green to make it look prettier. And because that's what I had left over. This also makes A LOT! Probably a good 8-10 servings. Gotta love leftovers.