Asparagus Soup with Herb Goat Cheese

Who loves asparagus??  Well, if you do, this is an EXCELLENT and different way to get your fix!  Don't get me wrong.... I am a-okay with preparing asparagus on the grill or in a sautee pan, but sometimes I want something different! So one day I was watching good ol' Food Network and Giada De Laurentiis was making a simple asparagus soup that was topped with these little herb goat cheese balls.  I decided that day that I was making it for dinner for that very evening! Usually when I use a recipe, I alter it and put my own spin on it....... BUT this recipe was so simple and it came out perfect, I didn't see any reason to change it! 

Asparagus Soup with Herb Goat Cheese
Goat cheese:

• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) goat cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil cooking spray

Soup:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 large leek (white and light green part only), thinly sliced

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 pounds medium asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: a 1/2-ounce cookie or ice cream scoop

Directions

Goat cheese: Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Herb Goat Cheese

Using a fork, in a small bowl, combine the goat cheese and basil until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a 1/2-ounce cookie scoop or a round tablespoon measure sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray, scoop the goat cheese into balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheet.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Soup before it was blended

Soup: In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring constantly until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the broth, asparagus and basil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Keep the soup warm over low heat.

Soup after it has been blended

To serve: Ladle the soup into shallow bowls and garnish with the herb goat cheese.

Cook's Note: The soup can also be pureed by ladling, in batches, into a food processor or blender and blended until smooth.

Turkey Pot Pie

I've noticed that it's been a while since I've posted anything (like 5 months).  With me starting school, Jose working full time, and taking care of the boys, my mind has been focused towards other things to say the least.  I love to share my recipes with everyone, and I'm sorry that I've been slacking a little bit!!

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Coming out of the Thanksgiving weekend, I find that we are using leftovers for EVERYTHING! I love turkey but I find that I have Bubba from Forest Gump playing on repeat in my head

"You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, turkey-kabobs, turkey creole, turkey gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple turkey, lemon turkey, coconut turkey, pepper turkey, turkey soup, turkey stew, turkey salad, turkey and potatoes, turkey burger, turkey sandwich." 

There is one way, however, that seems to never get old.   Turkey pot pie... a meal that just reminds me of comfort and family!  Now I'm not going to lie..... I do use ONE shortcut in here, Cream of Mushroom Soup. The cat is out of the bag!!! =]

Turkey Pot Pie

2-3 cups chopped turkey (it really depends on you, I like to have A LOT of turkey in mine!]

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup frozen peas

(2) 10.5 oz cans of Cream of Mushroom soup

1/3 c. milk

Splash heavy whipping cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 egg beaten with water for egg wash

Pastry for 10-inch two crust pie, prepared or purchased

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400° F.

2. In a large bowl, combine turkey, carrots, peas, soup, milk, whipping cream, and salt and pepper until combined.

3. Prepare pie crust; Roll 2/3 of the pastry big enough to ease into ungreased 10-inch pie pan

4. Pour turkey mixture into the pastry-lined pan

5.  Roll remaining pastry into an 11- inch circle, place over filling; turn edges under, crimp and cut a couple slits on the top. 

     ** I like to use the leftover dough with leaf cookie cutters to make a pretty design on the top**

6. Brush on egg wash mixture.

7. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 45-55 minutes.

French Onion Soup



French Onion Soup



First of all, I would really like to apologize for not posting as much as I should! We ran into some issues down in Colorado and ended up having to move back to Montana.  So things have been...........crazy (to say the least!)

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Onions before.



Alright..... lets get down to business! For anyone that knows me, they would be shocked to hear that I even considered to make French Onion Soup!  Since I can remember, I have hated onions.  I'm not sure what it is about them, I think it was the texture of them cooked and I feel like they are overpowering when they are raw.  One day out of the blue I really wanted a steak with caramelized onions and mushrooms on top...... to make a long-ish story short; I realized I really like caramelized onions!  So I scoured the Internet in hopes to find a decent onion soup recipe that uses caramelized onions. I was shocked to see that most of the recipes out there instruct you to "caramelize" onions for about 10 minutes! ( HA.... that makes me laugh a little on the inside) I'm not sure about anyone else, but theres not a whole lot of caramelizing going on in the first 10 minutes.











Onions after
(oh so delicious!!!!!)



* I found the trick to excellent caramelized onions..........PATIENCE! You really do have to go low and slow.  I use a combination of a little butter and olive oil, and let the onions do their magic for AT LEAST an hour (stirring occasionally)*



Anyways, back to the soup! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com but really only used it as a guideline.





Croutons!!!!!



French Onion Soup

1/4 c. butter

4 T. olive oil

4 onions, thinly sliced

1 T. all-purpose flour

4 c. (32oz.) beef broth

1/2 c. red wine

2 bay leaves

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 baguette

8 slices of Swiss cheese

Directions:



Almost done!!!

1.  Melt butter in 2 T. olive oil in a 4 quart saucepan.  Cook onions on medium low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally.



2.  Stir in flour until well blended with onions and pan juices.  Add beef broth, red wine, thyme, and bay leaves; heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile, cut about 1/4 of the baguette into cubes.  Reserve remaining bread to serve with the soup.  Spread cubes on a baking sheet and coat with remaining 2 T. olive oil.  Put under a broiler set to high until browned.  Set aside and preheat your oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C)

4.  Ladle soup into four 12 oz. oven-safe bowls.  Top with croutons then 2 folded slices of cheese.  Place bowls on a cookie sheet for easier handling.

5.  Bake for 10 minutes.



FINISHED!!!













spinach and cheese quiche with potato crust.

I love quiche...... Any kind of quiche...! I really wanted to show that even if you don't know how to make a pie crust, or if you can't afford to buy strictly fresh veggies, you can still make a really yummy quiche!  I used potatoes for the crust because I am running REALLY low on flour and I also used canned chopped spinach. Would I have liked to use fresh? Of course, but times are hard so you kind of have to use what you got! The quiche turned out really yummy, and I really liked the potato crust!  This recipe is really versatile, you can add whatever vegetables you like, meat.... the possibilities are endless!

Potato Crust Quiche
3 tablespoons vegetable oil ( I had olive oil on hand, so I used that)
3 cups shredded raw potato (be sure to pat the potatoes as dry as you can get them, it makes the potatoes crispier!)
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup vegetable(s) of choice (if using canned vegetables, drain)
1 cup milk (you may use evaporated milk or even heavy cream for a richer quiche)
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste
Optional:
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven 425 F
1.  Mix potatoes and vegetable oil in a 9 inch pie pan and press evenly into pie crust shape. Bake for 15 minutes until it just begins to brown.Remove from oven.
2.  Layer on cheese and vegetables.
3.  In a bowl, beat together milk, eggs, and seasonings.  Pour egg mixture over other ingredients and bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
4.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

a food blog is born!

Who doesn't love homemade Chocolate Chunk Cookies?! I had bought my package of chocolate chunks awhile back, but never made it around to making them..... So today I decided "YES!"..... and then realized I didn't have enough all-purpose flour to make them. I was lucky enough to run into this recipe from the Betty Crocker website for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (since I had some whole wheat flour in the freezer)

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chunk Cookies:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks (2 cups)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375º F.
2.  Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl.  Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff).  Stir in chocolate chunks. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft).  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet.  Cool on wire rack.