Beefy Tortellini Soup

This delicious soup makes a TON! Feed the masses, or make it one night during the week, and then heat up the left-overs for an easy Sabbath Day dinner--talk about a satisfying day of rest!

In a large stock pot, cook 15 minutes on medium low:

1 lb hamburger, 85/15 (any leaner and you'll have to add fat to cook the veg)

1 onion, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

2 small carrots, 1/4 inch rounds

salt and pepper

Add and cook 1 minute:

3 cloves minced garlic

Add, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes:

3 14.5 oz cans Italian Stewed Tomatoes, blended*

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

2 boxes beef stock in a box (about 8 cups)

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 Tablespoon sugar

Add and simmer 3 minutes:

20 oz Buitoni cheese tortellini

Add and simmer 3 minutes:

1 can cannellini beans 

10 oz bag spinach (chopped, if you want, or you could use 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed)

Serve with:

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Big ol' slice of bread

*The easiest and cleanest way I've found to do this is to dump the tomatoes into a quart jar (one can at a time) and use a stick blender until smooth.

Pumpkin Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

pinch grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter,* room temperature
1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin

4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips**

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a medium bowl, whisk together first seven ingredients.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until fully combined.  Beat in egg.  With mixer on low speed, mix in half the flour mixture, then the pumpkin, then the remaining flour mixture, just until combined.

Using a cookie scoop, drop dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 15 minutes, or beginning to turn golden.  Cool on a wire rack.

When cookies are cool, set the rack over a waxed paper.  Place chocolate in a small bowl or mug.  Microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir.  Microwave another 30 seconds.  Stir.  Continue to microwave by 10 second increments until smooth.  Drizzle over cookies with a fork, or pour chocolate into a plastic baggie.  Cut off a corner to make an 1/8 inch hole.  Pipe chocolate over cookies.  Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, about 15 minutes.

Adapted from Everyday Food

*The last time I made them, I used 1/4 cup bacon grease and 1/4 regular butter.  I think they tasted much better than just using the unsalted butter.  Really.  But I didn't tell the ladies I served them to.  There might have been a riot.  :)

**I didn't particularly like the texture of the chocolate, so I decided to try a ganache.  I thought it would lend to a more pleasant bite. 

4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (generous 1/2 cup)

1/3 heavy cream

Melt over a double boiler until smooth.  You can spoon the ganache right over the top of the cookies to cover completely, or wait until the ganache has thickened and then pipe it over the cookies.

The results?  Definitely, the ganache is better.  Piped is preferred--the ones that are completely covered can't be picked up without getting messy.

Burgers with the Works

Of course you've got the burger and the bun.  Then add  the following:

bun

burger

bacon

cheese

fried egg
mushrooms (sauteed)

lettuce

onion

pickled beets

tomato

pickles
mustard
ketchup
bbq sauce

Nothing too out of the ordinary, except for the fried egg and pickled beets!  Ohhhhh, they are so worth it. :)  But messy--have plenty of napkins.

Chicken Pot Pie

Makes 5 pies, doubles easily.

Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 Tablespoons cold lard, diced (don't have lard?  just use butter)

4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced

1/4 - 1/3 cup ice water

In a food processor, mix the first three ingredients.  Add lard and butter and pulse until all the fat is smaller than pea size.  While the processor is running, drizzle in the water until the dough just comes together.  Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the chicken mixture is ready.

Chicken Mixture

6 Tablespoons butter

1 large onion, small dice

2-3 ribs celery, small dice

2-3 carrots, small dice

1/4 cup flour

2 1/4 cups chicken stock (stock in a box is fine)

1/2 cup frozen peas

cooked chicken (2-3 cups)

splash of cream or milk (1-2 Tablespoons)

salt and pepper, all along the way, to taste

1 egg

In a large skillet, melt the butter on low heat.  Add onion, celery, carrots, pinch of salt and pepper, and cook until soft, about 15 minutes.  Add the flour and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring continually.  Heat up the chicken broth (in the microwave or on the stovetop).  Pour broth into the skillet, bring to a simmer (that means raise the heat--to medium will get you there), cook for a minute, stirring continually.  Add the peas and chicken, stir until warmed through.  Remove from heat and stir in the milk.  Taste and decide if you need more salt and pepper.

Assembly

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Ladle chicken mixture into 5 oven-proof bowls.  In a small bowl, beat egg and a splash of milk or water to make an egg wash.  On a floured surface, roll out the dough.  Cut circles large enough to generously cover each bowl.  Using a pastry brush, paint the edges of the bowls.  Place the circles of dough on each bowl, pressing lightly around the edge.*  Brush dough entirely with egg wash, sprinkle with salt (kosher if you've got it) and pepper.  Place the bowls on a cookie sheet and cook for 1 hour.  They're pretty hot right out of the oven.  I'd let 'em sit for a good 10-15 minutes before diggin' in.  :)

With the leftover dough

On a cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment paper, roll out the dough scraps, brush with egg wash (or melted butter, if you prefer), and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Bake for about 12 minutes.  Yum!

Update: Save time by pouring all the filling into a casserole dish, roll out the dough and place over the whole thing. Bake the same, but still remember to put a pan underneath to catch anything that drips!

Dinner Rolls

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg

3 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons yeast

more butter, melted, for brushing the tops before and after baking

Place all the ingredients in your bread maker and run the dough cycle.  Line a cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment paper (or just butter the cookie sheet).  Divide the dough into 16 pieces (I like using this), and place on cookie sheet.  Brush with melted butter.  Cover and let rise 30-40 minutes or until double in size.  Heat oven to 375 degrees and bake 12 minutes, or until golden brown on top.  Brush tops with more butter.  Serve warm!

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies with Bacon Grease

This is a review of this recipe found at the Homesick Texan.  I first found this blog when I was trying to find out how to render lard.  Thankfully, I have a brother-in-law (or sometimes nephew) who brings me lard from here.  Anyway, back to bacon grease cookies.   

Okay, right off the bat, there is no bacon flavor.  They don't taste as good as all-butter cookies.  What you get from the bacon grease is structure.  Big, puffy cookies.  So I'm wondering if maybe a 1/3 cup bacon grease and 2/3 cup butter might be a good idea--still pretty puffy, but more butter flavor.

Now let's move on to the cayenne.  I don't taste it while eating the cookies, but the warmth remains with you for a long time after finishing the cookie.  And that has an interesting effect.  You don't want to eat lots of cookies.  I could have stopped at one.  Of course, I had to try one with pecans.  So between the satiety that come from consuming bacon grease, and the satisfying warmth that comes from the cayenne, it's a pretty sure bet you're not going to eat the whole batch in one sitting.  So maybe that's not what you even want from a cookie--come on, admit it, there is a certain pleasure from wanting and devouring a bunch of cookies.  And I defy anyone to do that with these.  But if you want everyone to go "Yay!  Cookies!" and then watch as everyone is happy and satisfied with only one or two--hey, you've got yourself a cookie.

Here's the recipe with my comments:

Chocolate chip pecan cookies...with bacon grease 
Ingredients:
1/2 cup bacon grease
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup buttermilk*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (I can't decide if I think this is a little too much.)
1 cup roasted chopped pecans **, and see Variation
2 cups chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a cookie sheet. (I like to use parchment paper.  I like puffy cookies and parchment paper seems to help.)

Cream together the bacon grease, butter, sugar. Add the egg, buttermilk and vanilla and beat until fluffy.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and cayenne and add to butter, sugar and egg mixture. Beat until well incorporated and then stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. 


Roll dough into walnut-sized balls (use this instead), place on parchment-sheet lined cookie sheets (Wait, I thought you were supposed to grease the cookie sheet--yes, it says to do that right up there!  See, I told you parchment was better.) and bake for 17 minutes. (11 minutes tops, I can never figure out why some of these cookie recipes take so long--is it elevation or something?)

Yield: about 40 cookies (With my scoop I got over 50.)

Variation: You can swap out the pecans for 1/2 cup peanut butter (I did this, but after baking half the batter, I stirred in some pecans too.). Also, if you want a flatter cookie (Who wants that?  Oh, that's right, my husband likes flatter cookies.), press down on the dough ball with a fork before baking.

*I didn't have any buttermilk, so my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook suggests this as a replacement for 1 cup of buttermilk:  "1 Tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus enough whole milk to make 1 cup (let stand 5 minutes before using) or 1 cup whole milk plus 1 3/4 teaspoons cream of tartar or 1 cup plain yogurt."  I didn't even have whole milk (which I usually do), so I just used Mat's lactose free 2% milk with a little squeeze of lemon juice--letting it sit 5 minutes.

**I didn't notice the roasted part and just used bagged pecans.  Roasting makes pecans taste better, but I think it's debatable whether or not you notice it in cookies, which makes one question whether or not it's worth the trouble.

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb ground beef

1/3 - 1/2 onion, small dice or mince - grated if kids object to onion

1 can tomato soup

1 can green beans, drained

left-over smashed potatoes

In a large skillet on medium to medium-high heat, cook the beef (it shouldn't need any additional fat, unless you bought super lean beef--if you did that, add some oil or butter or bacon grease) and onions.  When done, tip the pan.  If any grease pools, spoon it out.  Stir in the tomato soup and green beans.  Pour into a casserole dish (mine was 7x11x2).  Cover with smashed potatoes.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, until the potatoes are warmed through and the base is bubbly.

Smashed Potatoes

5 lb bag red potatoes

1 1/2 to 2 sticks of butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Milk, a big splash

Scrub the potatoes, but don't peel them.  If there are any spots that don't look pretty, use a paring knife or peeler to get rid of them.  Put all the potatoes in a large pot.  Cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer.  If you've got large potatoes and plenty of time, no need to cut them, let them go for anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour.  They are done when a fork slides into the potato easily.  If you don't have an hour, cut the potatoes in half, quarters, or even smaller to cut down on cooking time.

When the potatoes are done, drain them into a large strainer.  Pour them back into the pan.  Cut the butter into tablespoon-size pieces, add to the pot and smash using a potato masher.  Add the salt, pepper, and milk.  Using a wooden spoon, mix well.  Keep adding milk until it's the consistency you like.

MM Specs