Broccoli Soup

 

 Note: wondering if this could be made in the Vitamix?

Mom's (Granny's) Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

1-2 medium Potato

2-3 cloves Garlic

1 medium Onion

1 1/2 bunch Broccoli

3 C Chicken Broth (just enough to cover broccoli to simmer)

Milk, Cream, or Half & Half

Sour Cream

Optional: Cauliflower, Carrot, etc.

 

Directions:

1. Saute onion and garlic in butter. Add cut up broccoli, potato, chicken broth, and salt. Boil til softened.

2. Puree in blender. Hold back on chicken broth and can add later if needed.

3. Add cream, half & half, or milk to desired consistency.

4. Salt and Pepper to taste.

5. Serve w/ sour cream.

 

Another recipe from the Food Network

We enjoyed this recipe. I did add a little more broccoli, I think, than it called for, per reading the comments. I want to ask mom her recipe and try it out as well. I didn't do the croutons this time. I used my immersion blender, but would probably just throw it in the full blender next time to make it smoother (as Camilla would probably do better that way).

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup cream
• Homemade Croutons, recipe follows

Directions

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy medium pot over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, onion, carrot, salt and pepper and saute until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, until the flour reaches a blonde color. Add stock and bring to boil.
Simmer uncovered until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes. Pour in cream. With an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and then replace the lid back on the pot. Serve hot with Homemade Croutons.

Homemade Croutons:

• Day old French bread
• Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Cut bread into cubes and place in a large bowl. Drizzle cubes with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Mix well.
Spread seasoned bread onto a sheet pan and bake for about 15 minutes.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Fried Rice

We all enjoy this at our house and I wanted to save it as I feel it's kid friendly.

Ingredients:
3 C uncooked rice
3-4 carrots
5-6 eggs
ham/bacon, cooked
peas
1 section broccoli
onion/green onion
green beans
cabbage
any other vegetable needing to be used up
salt and pepper
ginger (ground or fresh)
garlic salt
soy sauce
vegetable oil

Directions:

Cook rice in rice cooker with 6 C of water with a dash of salt.

In the meantime start cooking carrots and onion if not using green onion in a bit of vegetable oil. Gradually add other vegetables depending on how long they'll take to cook and soften until you have a good amount. Add meat.

In a separate pan scramble eggs and break into small chunks.

Once rice is cooked you can add it to the vegetables and mix. Add the eggs and mix. Then upon preference mix in salt and pepper, garlic salt, ginger, soy sauce, etc. as desired to taste.

Serve.

Herbed Naan & 5 Min. Bread Dough

from The Cafe Sucre Farine

 I made the dough yesterday and the naan bread today to go with Lentil Soup. Was yummy together. I think mine turned out a little thicker than pictured above and I made my balls a little smaller. I also sprinkled just a little salt on them as they were cooking. Very easy and prefer this method over the last as the last caused me to crack and thus break my pizza stone. Definitely want to try more with the 5 minute dough as it really did take only 5 minutes.

Ingredients:

2¾ cups hot water, 110-115˚F

1½ tablespoons granulated yeast

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

6½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Ingredients for the naan:

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup finely chopped fresh herbs, I like to use 1/2 cilantro and 1/2 Italian parsley, but other herbs would also be good*

sea salt

Directions for the dough

1. Mix the water, yeast and sugar in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container. Stir and let sit till yeast is bubbly. Stir in olive oil and sea salt.

2. Mix in the flour with a large wooden spoon or a heavy duty large whisk till all flour is incorporated.

3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and colapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 3-4 days.

Directions for the naan:

1. Combine oil and herbs in a small bowl.

2. When you're ready to make the naans, remove dough from refrigerator. Liberally sprinkle flour on a work surface. With a large spoon, scoop up 10 lumps of dough about the size of a small apple. Refrigerate remaining dough for another use (check these out).

3. Roll dough balls in flour to coat all surfaces, then flatten each with the palm of your hand. With a rolling pin, roll dough into circles (don't worry, they don't have to be precise circles, real naans aren't supposed to be perfectly round) about 8 inches in diameter. Keep work surface well dusted with flour to prevent sticking. Stack rolled dough circles on a platter, separating them with parchment or waxed paper.

4. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Coat surface lightly with olive oil. Place one dough circle in heat pan. Brush top surface with herb/oil mixture. If bubbles begin to form in dough just flatten them with your brush. This will give your finished naan lots of interesting texture. Continue cooking until bottom side is a light golden brown.

5. Flip naan to other side and brush top side lightly with herb/oil mixture. Continue to cook until second side is light golden brown, then flip one more time and cook for another 20 to 30 seconds. Remove naan to a plate and sprinkle with sea salt. Repeat process with other dough circles, stacking them on a plate, separating each one with paper towels.

Notes:

If using fresh sage or rosemary cut back on the amount by half, as these are much stronger tasting herbs.

Yield: 10 large naan

Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Creamy Chocolate Frosting

Originally from All Recipes

 

 

Original recipe makes 1 frosting for 1 cake. Upon reading the comments and knowing I wanted a strong chocolate flavor, I did 1 C cocoa powder and then added half the powdered sugar and sifted. Once I added the butter and milk and had mixed it (I forgot the vanilla) and added more powdered sugar as needed. This was a very semi-sweet chocolate flavor as a result. It was good on confetti cookies. Next time I would do less cocoa powder just to experiment I think.

 

Ingredients: 

• 2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons butter

• 5 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

Roasted Butternut Squash Mac' n Cheese

from Censational Girl

 

This was easy and great to make a day ahead and then bake and serve later. And as you can see I substituted a lot of things for ingredients I had on hand and didn't use exact measurements on everything. And it turned out great, which is one reason why this is awesome. I actually had an acorn squash on hand I needed to use so I used that and it tasted great. I may have had a little more macaroni and less squash because of this and using macaroni shells instead, but it didn't taste too "noodley".

Roasted Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:
4 cups diced raw butternut squash (acorn works too)
3 cups (about 12 oz) uncooked elbow macaroni (used shells, usually just use a full 16 oz box)
sprig of fresh sage or ½ tsp dried sage
3 tbsp olive oil
7-8 oz. fontina cheese (used a mix of parmesan, mozzerella, and colby I had on hand)
½ tsp salt
¼ cup butter
⅔ cup half and half (used whole milk, have also used sour cream and might like it better?)
⅓ cup breadcrumbs (plain or seasoned)


Directions:

1. Coat the butternut squash in olive oil, top it with chopped sage and roast it in the oven at 350º for 40 minutes or until cooked through.
2. Cook macaroni in salted water according to box instructions. Remove roasted butternut squash from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes. Place squash in mixing bowl or blender. Add half and half and salt and puree with hand mixer or in blender until smooth.
3. Toss cooked macaroni with pureed squash mixture and layer in large baking dish. Sprinkle top with breadcrumbs, melted butter, and shredded fontina. (I did the cheese then breadcrumbs, then melted butter which was great as the breadcrumbs were a little crispy)
4. Bake a total of 35 minutes at 350º, uncovered for 15 minutes until topping is slightly browned, then cover with foil for remaining 20 minutes. 

Serve hot! Serves 6-8 people.

Quick & Easy Noodle Stir Fry

from Our Best Bites

 

Quick & Easy Noodle Stir-Fry

 This is great to use up all those odds and ends in your fridge (cabbage, peas, mushrooms, bacon, etc). Has a lighter flavor, limes and ginger are optional ( I like both ways). And Camilla enjoys it!

Ingredients:

1 12-oz. package linguine (whole wheat or regular)
1-2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Asian sweet red chili sauce (Thai Kitchen makes one that’s great and easy to find; this is not the chili sauce you find near the ketchup)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 small red onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced or pressed
1 large or 2 small orange, red, and/or yellow bell peppers, seeded and sliced
1 cup fresh or frozen green sugar snap peas, snow peas, edamame, or green beans
1 medium zucchini, julienned or chopped
Optional: Grilled chicken, shrimp, or steak, black sesame seeds, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When it is boiling, add the noodles and cook al dente. When the noodles are done, drain them and toss in 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil.
2. Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, sweet chili sauce, and dark sesame oil. Set aside.
3. While the noodles are cooking, heat a large skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced onions, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, but the garlic isn’t burning. Add the peas (or beans or edamame) and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the zucchini and peppers and stir fry for another 30 seconds or until the veggies are crisp-tender. 
4. Add the noodles and stir fry until the noodles are well-combined with the vegetables.
5.  Give the sauce a quick whisk and then drizzle it evenly over the noodles and stir fry the entire mixture for about 30-60 seconds or until everything is well-coated in the sauce. 
6. Serve immediately–if you want, you can garnish individual servings with chopped cilantro, lime wedges, and black sesame seeds. 

Serves 6-8.

Capellini Pomodoro

Olive Garden's Capellini Pomodoro
Love this but always feel guilty ordering it as it is so easy to make at home. From the official Olive Garden recipe archives.

Prep Time:

10 minutes

Cook Time:

10 minutes

Serving Size:4

Ingredients

14 oz capellini pasta (angel hair)
8 medium tomatoes, cut into ½” pieces
11 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
6 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Procedures

1. COOK capellini pasta according to package directions.
2. MIX diced tomatoes, chopped basil, garlic and oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. DRAIN pasta. Toss pasta with tomato mixture in a sauté pan and heat throughout.
4. SERVE immediately.