Chicken Noodle Soup

Homemade chicken noodle soup is healing for the mind and the body!  Truly it is!  This is the kind of comfort food that can change a bad mood into a good one.  This soup reminds me of my mother and grandmother, which makes me feel like I am loved and taken care of.  It that isn't enough, the base of this soup is made from "bone broth."   Check out this article to learn more about the physical health benefits of "bone broth."

I always make this with the turkey bones the day after Thanksgiving.  Other times during the year I use the bones of a Rotisserie chicken to make the broth for this soup.  My husband and kids LOVE coming home to the smell of this simmering in the kitchen.

Ingredients -

Bones and leftover meat of a roasted chicken

Onions

Carrots

Celery

Chicken Bouillon

Uncooked Pasta, I prefer the thick, curly noodles that I can only find at Costco in the pasta variety pack.

Salt

Pepper

Rosemary

Thyme

Desired Seasoning and Herbs

Directions -

1.  Place bones in a large stock pot, and add enough water to cover the bones, and a few inches more.  Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer, covered, for 2-3 hours.

2.  Using a mesh strainer, and slotted spoon, carefully take out all the bones and meat that has fallen off the bones.  I spread this out, and carefully separate the meat from the un-edible pieces.   Throw the bones etc away, and keep the meat, cut up or torn into bite sized pieces.  

*At this point you can freeze the stock to use later, and use the meat in other recipes or continue on to make soup right now!

*I usually add a quart of broth or bouillon to the stock to help it go further for my big family.   

3.  Add all the vegetables, cut up, and let simmer for 20 minutes.  

4.  Add Chicken, Pasta, and season to taste.  

Shepherd's Pie

This is not your mother's Shepherd's Pie!  This is a copy cat of the Cheesecake Factory's recipe.  My friend Alyssa and her husband discovered it, and loved it.  I finally tried it when one of them mentioned how well it froze.  Really?  A delicious freezer meal!  I love to freeze individual portions in larger ramekins, then I eat them for lunch.  

Find the original recipe HERE.

The version I grew up with was very "70's".  A layer of ground beef, a layer of canned green beans, a layer of cream of mushroom soup, a layer of mashed potatoes and then sprinkled with cheese.   In defense of my mother, she is a fabulous cook and she has changed with the trends and styles of cooking.  I was recently looking through one of her old recipe collections from the 70's, and I was laughing because almost every recipe called for condensed cream soup or other heavily processed foods.  I feel like those kinds of ingredients are very frowned upon these days.  I try to cook with fresh and real food as much as possible.  That is why I love this recipe!

This is a dry house.  Ain't no alcohol in our home.  When a recipe calls for wine I use cooking wine found next to the vinegars at the grocery store.  Yeah yeah yeah... I know there is some alcohol content, but it is minimal and they say the alcohol cooks out.  It is more for flavor.  If you do not like the flavor then substitute it. In this recipe beef broth is a good substitute.  

prep 20 min, cook 40 min

• 2 tbsp oil, divided
• 12 oz white mushrooms,sliced thinly 
• 8 oz red wine, divided (I use less than this.  I use cooking wine or beef broth.)
• 1/2 cup carrots,julienned 
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb ground lamb or beef
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup chicken or beef stock
• 2 medium zucchini,julienned 
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 cupsmashed potatoes(6 medium yellow potatoes, 4 tbsp butter, 1/2 cup cream)  
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

1. If you happen to have left-overmashed potatoesskip to step 2.  Boil diced potatoes in salted water until soft, about 30 minutes.  
2. Pre-heat oven to 400F. Butter a large casserole dish.
3. Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat.  Add sliced mushrooms.  Saute mushrooms until soft and brown.  Add 2 oz red wine to the hot pan, stirring and scraping the pan.  Remove mushrooms to a plate.
4. Wipe out the pan and add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil, heat to medium.
5. Saute carrots until beginning to soften, then add onion and garlic.
6. When onions are soft add ground meat and brown, breaking meat into large chunks.
7. When meat is browned, season with salt, pepper and thyme.  Add mushrooms, peas and 1 tbsp butter.
8. Sprinkle mixture with flour and stir.  Then add tomato paste, Worcestershire, and remaining 6 oz wine.
9. Cook and stir mixture for several minutes.  Add stock and simmer until sauce is thick and somewhat reduced.
10. Remove from heat and stir in zucchini.  Season to taste.
11. Pour meat mixture into the prepared casserole.
12. Drain and mash potatoes with butter and cream as needed.
13. Spoon mashed potatoes over meat and spread and smooth the top. (At this point you can refrigerate or freeze the dish as desired.  I freeze individual servings in ramekins.)
14. Brush potatoes with a beaten egg and sprinkle with Parmesan.  I also like to sprinkle some more fresh thyme on top.  
15. Bake casserole 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbling and potatoes are browned.  Cook time will be longer for a cold dish.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Most of my Gourment Club, for the second year in a row, worked together to cater the dinner before the Relief Society Broadcast at the end of September.  We were feeding 200 women!  I worked on the "desserts team."  We did 50 each of Cardamom Pear Crisp, Carrot Cakes, Decadent Chocolate Brownie bites with Ganache and Pumpkin Bread Pudding.  I took over the Pumpkin Bread Pudding.  I am obsessed with Bread pudding.  It is one of my favorite desserts ever!  I began my search for a perfect recipe on Pinterest.  I tried a few, and was thrilled with this one right HERE!

The recipe I finalized on was my top choice for a few reasons.  Most importantly it is the most delicious!  Also, I was so suprised by the ingredients!  NO cream at all!  I have never made any bread pudding before without cream!  The original is for an 8x8 dish.  That is way too small for me, so I have adjusted the measurements to make a 9x13 pan.  Also, the original has a bourbon sauce to go on top.  I replaced that with a homemade carmel sauce that I use on fresh apple cake.

15 oz. pumpkin puree, I use Libby's canned pumpkin

12 oz. evaporated milk

24 oz. coconut milk

8 large eggs

3 cups dark brown sugar

2 tsp ground Cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp salt

2 french bread loaves

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup golden raisins                     *** I have never put in the chocolate chips or raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl combine the pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, coconut milk and eggs together and mix well.  In another bowl combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger and salt together and mix well.  Combine the puree mixture and brown sugar mixture together and blend well.  Set aside until needed.  You may leave mixture at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with spray grease.  Cut the French bread in to 1/2" cubes and put them into the pumpkin mix very gently toss to help the bread absorb all the liquid.  Pour into the baking dish.  If you are doing the chips and raisins, sprinkle them over the top and gently press them into the bread.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.  If you stick a butter knife into the center of the pudding and it pulls out mostly clean, then it is done.  It is recommended to let it sit for about 45 minutes to cool.  It falls apart completely if you dish it up right away.  It is delicious warm with a fair amount of carmel sauce drizzled over each serving, and then topped with freshly, sweetened Whipping Cream.

Carmel Sauce

4 Tbsp. butter

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup white corn syrup

3/4 cup cream, half and half or canned milk (I usually use half and half)

Melt butter, add syrup and sugar.  Cook till forms very soft ball stage (takes just a few minutes - I just wait for it to bubble)  Then, add the cream, and gently stir in till well blended.  

Molasses Cookies

Best Autumn smell - Molasses cookies baking.  Best Autumn taste - Warm Molasses cookies fresh out of the oven.   One of the reasons why I love these cookies so much is because they are so nostalgic for me.  This is a recipe my mom always made, and her mother always made, and I'm pretty sure my great grandmother always made also.  I always double this recipe!  

Cream together - 

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

Add - 

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

Add - 

2 tsp soda

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Roll dough into 1 inch balls, then roll in white sugar.  

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.  

Apple Pie Slices

A few years after I was married, my mother in law gave everyone a cookbook, filled with her recipes, for Christmas.  I don't remember which recipe I tried first, but I know this was one of the first.  One of the best parts of visiting "Grandma Ritz" is that she makes yummy treats like this.  I made this once for my side of the family, and my dad wrote in a new title in the cookbook.  He titled it, "A Party in Your Mouth."  He actually wrote it into the book!  

I made this once with cherries.  I used my cherry pie recipe for the filling.  It was delicious!  The only thing was I need to strain the liquid off, this 'slab' pie does not really hold juices so well.  Also, this dough is very sticky and fragile.  Using extra flour to roll it out would dry it out and change the texture.  The bottom crust I roll out between the baking sheet and a piece of Suran Wrap.  The top crust I roll out between 2 large pieces of Suran Wrap, peel the top layer off, lay it down carefully over the apples, then peel off the bottom layer of plastic wrap.

Mix - 2 1/2 cups flour

         1 Tbsp. Sugar

         1 teas. Salt

Cut into flour  - 1 cup shortening

Separate 1 egg. Put egg yolk in measuring cup and add milk enough to make 2/3 cup in all.  Add to flour mixture.  Mix dough just enough to shape into a ball.  Roll out half of dough into a rectangle.  Transfer to a baking sheet - 11x15, jelly roll size.

Cover bottom layer of dough with - 

2/3 cup cornflakes, slightly crushed

5 cups peeled, sliced apples

Mix - 1 1/2 cups sugar

         1 teas. cinnamon

Sprinkle sugar/cinnamon over the apples.  Roll other half of the dough between 2 pieces of Suran Wrap.  Place over the apples, pinch the edges shut.  Beat the egg white until very stiff and spread over the top.  

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. 

While hot, drizzle with a glaze made by mixing - 

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Fresh Apple Cake with Carmel Sauce

Taking a bite of this cake, is like taking a bite of Autumn.  It is my mother in law's recipe, and I try to make it only once a year, because I love it too much.  

Prepare in a 9x9 pan or double it and cook 15 minutes longer in a 9x13 pan.  I double the recipe and bake it in the Demarle Sunflower Mold.  I am posting the original recipe, so if needed, double this.

Cake

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1 egg

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (if doubling, I do not fully double the walnuts.)

2 large apples, peeled and grated

1 cup flour

Mix sugar, shortening and egg till fluffy.  Add apples, then rest of ingredients and nuts.  

Bake at 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Serve with Carmel Sauce.

Carmel Sauce

4 Tbsp. butter

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup white corn syrup

3/4 cup cream, half and half or canned milk (I usually use half and half)

Melt butter, add syrup and sugar.  Cook till forms very soft ball stage (takes just a few minutes - I just wait for it to bubble)  Then, add the cream.  

Serve warm over cake and ice cream. 

Cheese & Vegetable Soup

                I love this soup, it is my favorite soup.  The pictures above were taken on my birthday 2006.  This is often my birthday dinner request, even as I was growing up.  This is one of my mom's recipe's.  I do not kow where she got it from.  

It is like eating Fondue with little bits of Veggies in the dip.  It is SO good!  Of course, it has to be served in a toasted bread bowl.  Sourdough is my favorite.

1½ cups peeled, diced carrots                           1 cup diced celery

½ cup onion, diced                                              ½ cup margarine or butter

4 cans chicken broth, or 5 cups chicken bouillon

2 cups shredded cheddar (sharp)                      2 cups half n half

1 cup bisquick                                                      ½ t paprika

1/8 t pepper                                                           1/8 t cayenne pepper

Cook celery, onion and carrots in butter until tender.  Stir in bisquick and spices.  Remove from heat.  Gradually stir in chicken broth.  Heat again to boil, stirring constantly boil for 1 minute.  Reduce heat and add half n half and cheese.  Heat until cheese is melted.  Serve in a hot bread bowl, dip bread pieces in like fondue.  YUMMY!