Pretzel Beer Dip Mac & Cheese

 

This is comfort food at it’s most decadent!!  A great dish to serve on a football Sunday or any day you need a comfort food hug.

 
Ingredients:

2 blocks cream cheese - softened

5 cups (or more) cheese variety – shredded
12 oz your favorite beer
1 T whole grain or Dijon mustard
3 tsp dry Ranch dressing mix
4 scallions – thin sliced
¾ - 1lb cooked pasta – al dente
1½ C pretzels – crushed
2-3 T butter – melted
Salt & pepper to taste

Using a mixer (hand or stand) cream together cream cheese, mustard, ranch mix and beer.   Stir in scallions and shredded cheeses. I used a cheddar blend, Colby/Jack and parmesan – you can use whatever you’d like.  I added a large pinch of salt and a good amount of fresh ground black pepper – add what you like.  Add your cooked pasta and combine well. 

Pour mix into a well sprayed casserole dish.  Mix crushed pretzels with melted butter and sprinkle evenly on top.  Bake in a 350° oven for 45-60 minutes --- you’ll know when it’s bubbly delicious!!  Let sit about 10 minutes and serve.  Enjoy!!

Nee Nee’s Classic Fish Chowder

 This is a creamy soup is reminiscent of clam chowder but loaded with flakey white fish and shrimp; A sure cure for the cold weather blues!

Ingredients:

3 T Olive oil

1 med onion diced
3-4 garlic cloves minced
2 leeks cleaned and sliced
1 small celery heart diced (including leaves)
4 medium carrots diced
1 large potato peeled and diced
1 C white wine
1 tsp tarragon
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2-3 bay leaves
1 qt seafood stock
2-3 C cubed fish of your choice
1-2 C shrimp in bite-size pieces
1 pint heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a soup kettle or Dutch oven.  Sauté onions, leeks, celery and carrots (season with salt & pepper).  When vegetables begin to look translucent, add garlic and sauté until fragrant.   Add wine and next 3 ingredients.  Allow the wine to simmer and reduce slightly then add the seafood stock and diced potato.  Bring to a light boil until carrots and potato are just barely cooked (not mushy).  Taste broth and reseason with salt & pepper as needed.  Add fish and shrimp and allow to simmer until barely cooked through.  Add cream, bring to a good simmer until all ingredients are cooked. 

Fish:  I like white fish in my soup, but I’ve seen it made with salmon, scallops or whatever you like.

Optional:  You can make up a cornstarch slurry and add it to the soup when it’s at a light boil to thicken the soup if you like.

 

Spicy Italian Cabbage Soup

A great soup to fill up on when you’re watching your waistline!  A little bit of spice to warm you on a cool evening and some fresh basil and scallion to bring all the flavors together.  You can make this soup your own by adding whatever vegetables you like.

 

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

1 medium onion diced

2 T minced garlic

2 T tomato paste

½ green bell pepper diced

½ red bell pepper diced

1 small fennel bulb diced

2 tomatoes seeded and diced

2 T Italian seasoning

1 Qt vegetable stock

½ Qt water

1 large can diced tomatoes (I like San Marzanos)

1 small head cabbage (I prefer savoy) chopped bite-size

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Salt & pepper to taste

Scallions diced

Fresh basil 

Optional:

2 T chicken soup base

Diced zucchini & squash diced 

Heat 2 T olive oil in a large soup kettle or dutch oven.  Add onions and sauté until translucent.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes, stirring until fragrant (about 1 min).  Add tomato paste – cook about 2 minutes.  Add bell peppers, fennel bulb & tomatoes.  At this point, season with salt and pepper.  Allow veggies to sweat for about 5 minutes (stirring occasionally) then add can of diced tomatoes, vegetable stock and water.  Bring to a good simmer allowing vegetables to cook. 

OPTIONAL:   At this point, using either an immersion blender or upright blender, blenderize part of the soup, leaving as many chunks as you’d like.  This will add body to the soup and not just leave it as veggies in broth.  Then add cabbage and continue simmer until cabbage is cooked through. 

 If adding soup base, add after liquids are added.  If adding zucchini & squash, add just as cabbage is becoming fully cooked to avoid them getting too mushy.

 SERVING:

Sprinkle diced scallions and ripped basil over soup just before serving.  If you don’t have fresh basil, you can stir in some basil pesto you have hiding in your freezer.  Stir together and enjoy! J

Home-made Chicken Burgers with Cranberry Mayo

 

 

This is a great low-fat alternative to beef hamburgers.  The tang of the cranberry mayo just rings of thanksgiving on a bun!

 Ingredients:

 

3 chicken breasts (small to med)

2 stalks celery
1 small onion
1tsp. poultry seasoning
½ C plain breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Salt & pepper to season the outside
1-2 T olive oil

Rough chop the celery and onion and put it in a food processor.  Process the veggies until they are very small dice.  Dice the chicken breasts and add them to the processor with the poultry seasoning, breadcrumbs, egg, salt and pepper.  Process all the ingredients until they are well combined.   Take out the amount you want per patty, shape them, and season with salt and pepper.  Cook them on medium in a pan with about 1 T olive oil.  Be sure to cook them all the way through….you can cut them with a knife and check the middle just in case. Makes 5-6 burgers depending on chicken breast sizes.

Cranberry Mayo

½ C cooked cranberries
1-2 T mayonnaise (to taste)

Mix cooked cranberry relish (or canned if that’s all you have) with the amount of mayo that tastes good to you. 

To serve:  Place chicken burger on the bun, a nice lettuce leaf and a dollop of cranberry mayo. 

NUTS ABOUT NUTS....

This is a great recipe for people who do or don't like nuts.  As a "not so nuts about nuts" fan myself, I admit to enjoying these as a snack, ice cream topper or in salads.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs pecans, walnuts, nut mix of your choice

2 T butter

3/4 C dark brown sugar

1-2 T hot water
Popcorn salt
Cayenne Pepper (optional)

In a deep saucepan (preferably teflon) melt your butter.  Add brown sugar and melt them together.  This mixture will be a little thick so add hot water one tablespoon at a time and stir the mix to see if it's loose enough for coating the nuts.  Allow the brown sugar to melt a little to create a smooth sauce (be careful not to burn).  Add nuts, mixing to coat them evenly.

Spread nuts in one layer onto a sprayed cookie sheet (I cover mine with foil to avoid extra dishes to wash).  Sprinkle them liberally with salt and cayenne pepper if you desire.  Bake them in a 350 degree oven stirring with a spatula about every 10 minutes.  Taste each time you stop to stir and check to see if the nuts have that wonderful roasted flavor - this should not be more than 20-30 minutes.  Once out of the oven, you can reseason with salt or cayenne again if needed.  Allow the nuts to cool; they can be stored in an airtight container or ziplock bag.  Enjoy!

Italian Sausage and Vegetable Minestrone

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

3 slices extra thick bacon (4-5 normal slice)

4 cloves garlic

1 lb loose italian sausage (or removed from casing)

1 ½ C onion diced

2 lrg carrots diced

3 stalks celery diced
2 bay leaves

2 medium zucchini diced

2-3 medium potatoes diced

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cans cannelini beans (rinsed)

2 cups savoy cabbage chopped

2 cups baby kale (cook longer for regular kale)

¼ C tomato paste

1 T Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Red pepper flake to taste

Water

Rough chop the bacon and garlic and process it in a food processor until it’s a paste.  In a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven put about 1 T olive oil and add the bacon/garlic paste.   Cook until the mixture begins to brown.  Add and brown the italian sausage, breaking it up as it cooks.  Add the onions and red pepper flake allowing them to cook about 5 minutes.  Add carrots and celery and par cook them until they begin to soften.  Then add tomato paste.  Allow tomato paste to cook for a few minutes then add all the other ingredients.  Allow soup to simmer until all veggies are cooked through. 

Nee Nee’s Quick Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

¼ C bacon lardons

¼ C olive oil

2 T butter

1 bunch scallions diced

2 large cloves garlic diced

¼ C + 2 T flour

1 qt chicken stock

1 qt milk

4-5 med sized baked potatoes diced (I leave skins on)

1 ½ C shredded cheese
Salt & pepper to taste

In stock pot brown and crisp bacon. Remove the bacon to some paper towel to drain. Remove bacon grease from the pot (keep brown bits in the bottom). Add oil, butter, green onions and garlic. Sauté until fragrant (about 3-5 minutes). Add flour and cook a few minutes until flour is cooked. Whisk in chicken stock scraping the bits off the bottom of the pot. Add milk and potatoes. Mash potatoes with back of spoon till soup comes to preferred consistency. Put bacon back in Add stock or water if too thick. Stir in shredded cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I use all no salt or low sodium stocks and butter and season with grey sea salt.

Garnish with scallions, cheese, bacon and/or a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!!