Smoked Ham and Lentil Soup

I wanted to make a hearty soup that I was sure was going to be enjoyed and be easy to re-heat as needed for my family and for some sweet friends.  As I wandered around the grocery store I discovered some heirloom rainbow carrots. They looked interesting so I decided to make them the basis of my soup.

The carrots were lovely. I peeled them with my potato peeler and sliced into rounds, not too thick and not too thin. I used the entire bag.  After rinsing I put them in the bottom of my soup pot and added just enough chicken stock to cover and set them to boil. As soon as they began to boil, I turned the heat back to medium low and let them simmer while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

As the carrots were gently simmering I began to chop the ham.  Ham is a very interesting subject for me. Sometimes I like to bake it myself for hours and hours all day with my own special blend of seasonings. Sometimes I realize that I do not have time for that so I seek out special hams at the store that have excellent flavor.

This is the ham that I purchased. I bought a half one that was perfectly smoked. While my carrots were simmering, I chunked the ham into small bite size pieces. When all of the ham was completely chopped, I added them into the pot with the simmering carrots.

Into the pot next after the ham addition, I added 16 ounces of chicken stock and one stick of real butter (you really are not surprised I added butter, are you?).  As the next addition to the pot is lentils, I needed more liquid for them to absorb than just the chicken stock and butter that the carrots and ham were bathing in.  To the pot I added 8 cups of water. Because I used a rainbow selection of carrots I also decided to use two colors of lentils. To the carrots, ham, chicken stock and water I added one pound of green lentils and 3/4 pound of red lentils.

I brought the above combination to a boil again and then immediately turned the heat back down and let the lentils simmer gently with the carrots and ham for about twenty minutes. Honestly, do not overcook your lentils. This is the very reason that I pre-cooked my carrots. I knew the carrots would need longer than the lentils.   I also added a small amount of cayenne pepper and a healthy shake of Soul Seasoning.

Time your cooking of your lentils carefully. Follow their cooking directions carefully. The key to this soup was simple. Tasty carrots, smokey ham, well cooked lentils and a touch of butter. Give it a try and enjoy!
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Homemade Applesauce - No Sugar Added

I am always on the look-out for recipes that work for a friend who cannot have any added sugar and that do not require me to keep anything like Splenda or any other sugar substitute on hand.  Today I am taking this friend a meal that consists of ham steaks, roasted root vegetables and applesauce.  Almost every recipe for applesauce has some form of sugar so I decided to just wing it and make my own.

I started with a 3-pound bag of Gala apples. Why Gala? I don't know. They looked good and I am not a big fan of Granny Smith or Red Delicious.  The price was right at the grocery store.  All but three were peeled. I like to leave the peel on three of them for added texture. All were cored, sliced into small chunks and put into a pan with two thin slices of lemon.

Why lemon? Well, I can't add sugar and a squeeze of lemon always makes my tea taste better so I decided it would probably be just the ticket to helping out with the taste of the apples.

Next I added one teaspoon of cinnamon and I grated in some nutmeg. I did not use ground nutmeg. Don't do it. It only takes a minute to run your nutmeg pod over your micro-plane to get that delicious, fresh nutmeg taste. Fresh nutmeg is often my secret ingredient in many of my dishes.

Add to all of the above about 1 1/2 cups of water and set to boil. After it boils, reduce the heat  and cover the pot. Cook for approximately twenty minutes, giving them an occasional stir.

When they are nice and tender remove the lemon slices and use your handy dandy potato masher and mash the apples.

This applesauce is hearty and earthy. It is not the sweet applesauce of your childhood. It is applesauce all grown-up.  My friends love it because he can eat what he wants without worrying about his diabetes.

Bacon-Butt Burgers for the Birthday Boy

I finally got to make my baby boy his birthday dinner tonight. His request:  hamburgers, my homemade macaroni and cheese with Ballyshannon Irish cheese, and canned peas. I made a run to the Farmer's Market and got two pounds of freshly ground chuck (poor chuck) at the butcher shop, some vine ripe tomatoes and lettuce. Strangely enough, the Farmer's Market did not have any lettuce! We had to go to Wal-Mart for that.

When your hamburger is ground fresh not a lot needs to be done to it. The only thing I added was a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and some soul seasoning.  I had some bacon ends and pieces (purchased in a 3 pound lump really cheap!) so I decided to give my hamburgers a bacon butt..  After mixing the seasonings gently into the ground chuck (poor chuck) I formed them into patties and added bacon pieces to the bottom and placed them in a pre-heated skillet on medium high to fry.

While the burgers began to fry, salted water went on to boil for the macaroni and I began slicing up a huge chunk of Kerrygold Ballyshannon cheddar cheese. It is Irish cheese and one of Nick's favorites.
Kerrygold cheese

When the water came to a rolling boil I added the macaroni and boiled until just tender. I do not like mushy noodles! It was dumped into the strainer (one pound of macaroni, by the way) and then back into the hot pot. One stick of REAL butter, half a pound of chunked Ballyshannon cheese and a splash of heavy cream get dropped into the hot noodles.  The amount of cream depends on how thick you want the sauce in the macaroni.  We use very little as we like the butter and the cheese to do the work.

In the meantime, the burgers have been flipped over.

The bacon has cooked into the butt of that burger like a glorious bikini bottom! The next is key:  DO NOT SMASH YOUR BURGER!! Good grief people. Let the burger be thick and juicy. Don't make the bacon give the hamburger a wedgie!!!

These yummy burgers were served with thick-sliced vine ripe tomatoes, lettuce, provolone cheese, onion, mac and cheese, and peas.  Here is the happy birthday boy with his dinner:

Even though his birthday dinner was delayed by one day, he was a happy fella.  He loved my bacon butt burgers and his homemade mac and cheese.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK! I LOVE YOU!


PS....I must qualify this.  The birthday boy specifically asked for canned peas. I don't really eat them anymore. I used to make them when they were little and we were broke. Now that we are better off financially and I am a little more knowledgeable, I use frozen. I used canned tonight at his request.

Chicken Caprese Pasta

One of my favorite Italian dishes is a caprese salad. I decided it was time to take that salad concept and turn it into a healthy and yummy dinner dish. Here is how I did it.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.  In a glass baking dish put some boneless chicken (I used sliced chicken tenders). I used approximately one pound of chicken tenders.  To this I added 7 cloves of smashed and chopped garlic. Next I squeezed some fresh basil paste onto the chicken.  It is your preference how much as to how much basil you like. I used almost a tablespoon.  I sprinkled some red pepper flakes on top as well and put it into the oven to bake.

 This is the basil I used. It was in the fresh produce department and is a wonderful tool.

While the chicken is baking, use a small saucepan and melt two tablespoons of butter (not margarine) and add one medium yellow onion, sliced and chopped.  To the onion and butter add two medium zucchinis chopped small.  Sprinkle with a little bit of salt to sweat out the zucchini.  Saute until soft.

Prepare one pound bag of macaroni, boiled al-dente in salted water. Assemble the pasta like this:

Place your finished chicken tenders that have been chopped in the bottom of your bowl.
Next add the sauteed zucchini and onions.

To the top of this, add your drained hot pasta.

On top of the hot pasta, squeeze approximately three tablespoons of the basil. More or less to your taste preference for basil.  After you add the basil, add the following:

(1) pound of FRESH mozzarella cheese, chunked
Murray's Cheese

(6) medium size Roma tomatoes, chunked

Give this all a really good stir so that the basil gets blended in well, the chicken and tomatoes and cheese are distributed evenly as possible.

This dish was so fresh and flavor-able I almost slapped MYSELF! I hope you try it. My whole family enjoyed it!

What in the world should this be called????

It was Wednesday night.  I was in a hurry. I had a package of boneless pork chops I needed to use before they went bad.  What happened next was unplanned, unscheduled, nary a recipe followed. It was mostly just a desperation dinner.

As usual, I started with two medium size yellow onions cut into rings. Into my large skillet they went with some canola oil and butter.  I chopped my pork chops into bite size pieces and threw them into the skillet with the onions. I had a large package of white button mushrooms. I wiped the dirt off of them with a damp paper towel and then sliced them.  I put them in the pan with the pork and the onions.

I am stirring it and realizing it is still not enough to feed everyone so I look around for something else to add to the pot.  I smash a few cloves of garlic and toss in. Next, I take out a package of Ore-Ida crinkle cut french fries and start chopping them into smaller pieces.  They get tossed into the pan with the rest of the pork, onions and mushrooms.  I sprinkle in some Soul Seasoning and stir until everything is nice and brown and done.

Was it good? Actually, yes it was. I sprinkled mine with garlic salt and gobbled it up.  Were ALL the family members brave enough to try it? NO.  My husband enjoyed it and so did my son.  I think even Trixie (my "adopted" daughter) ate it.  Not to bad an average.  The only bad side-effect was that I went to church with garlic breath!!

Potato and Ham Hash

Tonight easy was on the menu for dinner! I did not feel like going for an all out "mess the entire kitchen up" meal.  I looked around and realized I still had not used the big chunk of chopped ham that I had purchased at the beginning of the week.  It needed to be used before it went bad.

My large skillet came out and I put a generous amount of canola oil (don't hate....I am out of olive oil and I have not made it to the store yet! Normally I would have busted out the EVOO).  I chopped two medium size yellow onions and tossed into the pan.

Next I peeled and chopped a 3 pound bag of russet potatoes.  Okay....hang on a minute. I have a confession to make. I did not actually peel those potatoes. My son did. THANKS NICK!
On top of the onions they landed!

Next I chopped my block of chopped ham up. Kind of funny, huh? I had to chop chopped ham? Oh well! That is what I bought from the deli....one large hunk of chopped ham. They looked at me kind of weird when I said I did not want it sliced but wanted one huge chunk of ham. Into the pan it went!

I fried/steamed this for about 35 minutes or so until the potatoes were tender, the onions and ham were crispy.  It was very, very good.  I served it up in a bowl with some shredded sharp cheddar cheese. It was a delicious dinner.

Good thing I know I am not pregnant!

I was in a weird mood today at lunch. I wanted tuna salad but I did not want it in my usual mayo and sweet relish way.  I started poking around in my refrigerator and this is what I found:

I chopped up a large spoonful of each one of these.  I put them in my tuna with a small spoonful of Duke's Mayonnaise.  I put this delightful mixture on a ciabatta bun with a large homegrown sliced tomato. It was really good.  The mild pepper rings added such a delightful bite to the tuna salad.

It really sounds like a pregnant craving and I am glad I know that I am not!! I think is my new favorite way to have tuna salad! I hope you try it!!

Pork Chops in Mushroom Gravy

It was a beautiful day to worship. How nice it was to see Carolyn, the wife of our pastor, at church today. She is an amazing and special woman.  Her husband had knee surgery and has been out for a few weeks. Now he has a pinched nerve in his shoulder. I feel bad for them. I know he is anxious to get back to work. They need lifted up and loved on. The best way I know to do that is to cook. Today I am making them some of my mother's pork chops and mushroom gravy, butter beans and honey rolls.

I start with some fresh center cut boneless pork loin chops, placed in a baking dish and liberally sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper. Next in the pan is some fresh white mushrooms wiped clean of their dirt and sliced. One family size can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup and one can of evaporated milk. Cover with foil and place in a 375 degree oven for one hour until the pork is done, the mushrooms tender and the gravy nice and thick. I take the foil off when there is about 15 minutes left so it can brown up a little bit and get good and bubbly.

Here it is in all of it's yummy goodness! My mother used to make it all the time except she did not add the fresh mushrooms.  That was my idea. I love my fungus! The butter beans are almost done and I need to wrap this dish up and get it out the door and get ready for church.  I hope you are heading to service today too!!