Arroz con Pollo

My dear sweet friend made dinner for my family tonight.  I don't think I have ever had arroz con pollo before.  IT WAS DIVINE!!!  The rice was so yummy and quite frankly I don't think I have EVER made chicken that moist and tender.  And when I stated that to my family that was sitting around the table with me, they said, NOPE you never have.  SHEESH.... Monique is an excellent chef! And I am so blessed.

Thank you Monique!  I am so grateful.

Italian hamburgers!

So, we have to have dinner early tonight as we are going to go to the skating rink for a family fun night!  I was pondering what to do with my fresh ground chuck (gotta love having a butcher at your fingertips) when my husband came in and said he had a "novel" idea....why not just make hamburgers?!  Gotta love my hubby!!

I mixed my fresh ground chuck with some dry Italian seasoning dressing mix.  Nothing else.  It smells wonderful.  I have some fresh tomatos sliced (by my butcher because I am spoiled like that), some onion, cheese, and buns.  Crinkle cut fries are in the oven!  YAY! Another easy dinner night!

If I don't break anything tonight skating I will be back tomorrow with an awesome pie crust recipe!  Bye!

Baked Potato Soup

Tonight was an easy supper night.  I made my bacon, cheddar and baked potato soup.  It was way easier than it sounds.  Earlier in the day I put about six russet potatoes in the oven to bake.  When they were done, I put them in a bowl on my counter to cool down.  They don't fall apart so easy when you cut them up after they are cooled.

One pound of bacon, fried in the bottom of my large soup pot
Drain bacon on paper towels and reserve drippings in a bowl for later
One can of chicken broth (14.5 ounces)
1/2 gallon of whole milk
4 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar
4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons of flour
1 - 2 drops of Texas Pete
Freshly ground pepper

Cube the baked potatos.  Pour the chicken broth into the large soup pot.  Add the cubed potatos (I leave the skins on, they taste better that way, just make sure to wash your taters before putting them in the oven to roast).  Add 3/4th's of the while milk.  Have the temperature set on medium (you don't want it to high as to not scald the milk).  Crumble the bacon and put in the soup.

In a separate saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat.  Once melted add the flour to form a roux.  Cook until a blonde color.  Slowly add the remaining milk to the roux and stir well.  When combined, pour the roux into the soup.  This will help thicken the soup.

Liberally add freshly ground pepper.  Add 2 cups of the shredded cheddar and stir.  Add 1-2 drops of Texas Pete.  Stir and let simmer.  Taste and check for your preference of cheese in the soup.  Add more shredded cheese if desired.  I typically always add 4 cups of shredded cheese as my family loves it really cheesy.

I often use the reserved bacon fat to saute some fresh chopped onion.  I serve the onion on the side as not all of my family likes it in their soup.  I also put extra shredded cheese on the table (all though it already has four cups in it!!!) for my cheese heads!

I hope you like it! We love it and often make it with leftover baked potatoes from a different dinner.  Tonight since we had company over, I made baking powder biscuits to go with it.  I love having company!

Cornish Game Hens....I got brave!

I got brave and bought some Cornish game hens from the butcher.  They are almost done! They were also relatively easier than I anticipated.  Only two of them had their innards left inside.

They turned out yummy! I think my sister would be proud of me.  My son liked them.  I also boiled some cauliflower and then mashed them up like taters.  I added butter, milk, salt and pepper.  It was yummy.

Cheesy Chicken Casserole - My mom's recipe!

This is a very, very versatile recipe that my mom taught me how to make.

(1) package wide egg noodles, cooked according to package
(1) family size can of Cream of Chicken Soup
(1) 12 ounce can of evaporated milk
cooked, chopped chicken
(1) package of American Cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Place one layer of American cheese in the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan
In a separate bowl mix the can of soup with the can of milk and stir well.  Mix in the chicken with the soup.
After the noodles are done, pour into the pan on top of the layer of cheese.  Pour the soup mixture on top of the noodles and carefully distribute around.  Put another layer of American cheese all over the top, leaving no exposed noodles. 
Put in oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is all melty and the casserole is heated through.

Variations:  When I am broke, I use a can of tuna (in water, drained).  Frozen broccoli (thawed and cooked) is good mixed in as well as peas.

My mom made this for my birthday every year. 

Gnocchi!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/gnocchi-recipe2/index.html

I made homemade gnocchi tonight to go with the tomato sauce I made yesterday.  They turned out pretty good! They were not perfect but I think I did okay for my first time.  My biggest problem was trying to roll them like gnocchi.  I need to get one of those little gnocchi boards so I can do it up right.

My Italian hubby liked them! :) I was happy!  I have attached the link to the recipe I used.  You can't get much more Italian than Mario Batali! I love him! I think he is awesome.  I wish I could take lessons from him.

I'm at it again!

I am thinking about trying to make gnocchi tonight.  In anticipation of this task, I am making a tomato sauce to go with it.  I have thrown in the requisite cans of tomatos (Hunts because they don't use chemicals to peel them), V8 juice, garlic, chopped onions, butter, olive oil, basil and oregano.  I am not sure what else I will add.  I am out of tomato paste so we will see.

I will keep you updated on my progress! In the meantime I am thinking of starting another blog strictly for my bible study stuff. I am giving it much thought and will post a link if I decide to do that.