Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

Source: Utah Deal Diva

Ingredients:
2 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk**
1 1/2 cups water**
1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (we just used regular mustard, and probably more like 2 tsp.)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

**Can substitute 1 can {12 oz} evaporated milk and 2 cups water for the 2 cups milk and 1 1/2 cups water.

Directions:
In a large saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whisk in flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and water.

Add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.

In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. {Don't let this step deter you from making the soup! Blending it is really easy and so worth the extra 3 minutes. The most annoying part are the added dishes!}

Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally.

Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Serve soup with remaining cheese as a garnish.

Notes: I'll admit, I was quite intrigued by this recipe when I first saw it, but I was also a little scared. No need to worry, however. It was so easy! And so yummy! Almost the consistency of cream of wheat, it was definitely unique, but not too weird. And I loved the tiny kick that came from the pepper jack cheese. We want to try using the cauliflower base for other kinds of soups like broccoli cheddar or clam chowder. Try it! (P.S. The Utah Deal Diva has step-by-step picture instructions. I don't. Also, I know I need to work on my food-photography skills. All in due time. ;)

Cookies 'n' Creme Brownies

Source: Our friend Betty C.

(C stands for Crocker. The recipe was on the back of the brownie mix we just happened to find in our cupboard on a lazy Sunday afternoon!)

Ingredients:

1 box Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix

water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box:

1/4 cup water*

2/3 cup vegetable oil*

2 eggs

1 2/3 cup creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (aka Oreos! -- we used about a row and a half from the package), divided

1/2 container Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy vanilla or chocolate frosting (2/3 cup) (we used the whipped vanilla kind -- again, it's what we had in the pantry)

*we altered these amounts according to the high altitude (3500-6500 feet) directions so we added 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup oil plus 3 Tablespoons flour.

Directions:

Heat oven to 350F. Make brownies as directed for 13 x 9-inch pan - except stir 1 cup cookie crumbs into batter. (So, stir brownie mix, water, oil, eggs (and flour, if high altitude), and cookie crumbs in medium bowl until well blended. Spread in pan (glass or metal) that has been greased on the bottom. Bake 24-26 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean.) Cool completely. Frost with frosting. Sprinkle with remaining oreo crumbs. Store tightly covered. (That is, if you have any left to store!)

Notes:

I debated about whether I should even post this as a "recipe" since everything pretty much came from a box, a can or a cookie package. But then I knew that there were some chocolate lovers who read this blog and I figured I'd at least share. :) Let me just say that the mutual sweet tooth that Gregg and I both got this afternoon was completely satisfied after delighting ourselves with this treat. Yum.

Oat Soda Bread

Source: from a webclip in the top of my aggiemail inbox that led me here, and that link subsequently led me here

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt (I didn't have this, and a teaspoon seemed like a ton, so I added 1/2 teaspoon regular salt.)
1 3/4 cups buttermilk (plus more if needed), and 2 Tablespoons for brushing (You can make a perfectly good buttermilk substitute by putting 1 TB white vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup and bringing the volume up to 1 cup with milk. Let sit for 5 minutes and voila! You've got "buttermilk".)
mixed seeds - sesame, caraway, poppy, etc (I didn't have any seeds of any kind, so I sprinkled the top with flour instead and it turned out lovely.)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan (or one with ~8 cup capacity) with parchment paper and set aside. Alternately, you can bake this bread without a pan, on a lightly floured baking sheet. (I did the latter ... following directions on the second website listed above: http://www.injennieskitchen.com/2011/01/oat-soda-bread.html)

To make the oat flour, use a food processor (or blender!) to pulse the rolled oats a few times. Then process into a fine powder - another minute or two. If you are buying oat flour, not making your own, measure out scant 2 cups.

Sift the flours, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Stir just until everything comes together into a dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for 30 seconds or so, just long enough for the dough to come together into a cohesive, slightly flattened ball without many cracks or fissures. If your dough is on the dry side, add more buttermilk a small splash at a time. Now ease the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan.

Brush all over the top and sides with buttermilk and sprinkle generously with mixed seeds or flour, 2 Tablespoons or so. Slice a few deep slashes across the top of the dough. Bake for about 30 minutes, then quickly (without letting all the hot air out of the oven), move the rack and the bread up a level, so the top of the bread gets nice and toasted. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a hard crust forms and the bread is baked through. (We actually just baked it all on the same rack for ~40 minutes and it turned out perfect ... just watch it and adjust accordingly for your oven.) It will feel very solid and sound hollow when you knock on it. Carefully lift it out of the pan, in a timely fashion, and allow to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy with a good slathering of salted butter.

Notes:
I used to love to make rolls and bread on Sundays, but since I'm doing a lot of mammalian cell culture up in the lab, I've had to pretty much cut yeast out of my life. (See, if I knead bread dough that has yeast in it, some of the yeast can live on my hands - even though I wash them - which can then cause contamination - aka havoc! - in my cultures in the lab. Bad news all around.) So, when I stumbled across this recipe I knew I had to give it a try. While it doesn't taste a lot like yeast bread (go figure), I thought it was quite crusty and tasty. Gregg thought it was kind of a mix between corn bread and biscuits. We had it spread with butter and honey. I think it would be delightful dunked in soup. It's definitely easy and quick and conveniently yeast-free! (P.S. I tried to steal a photo from one of the blogs I stole the recipe from, but somehow it's not working ... just go to their sites to see the beauty of this bread.)

Easy Apple Pie

Source: Gregg, via this site

Ingredients:
2 9 inch pie crusts, one for the top and one for the bottom (Gregg is the official crust maker and he uses his mom's oil pastry recipe)
1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
dash salt
2 Tablespoons butter
6 cups apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (We used 5 medium-sized Galas and it worked perfectly)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F. Mix sugar, cinnamon, flour, nutmeg and salt. Stir in apples. (We have found that sort of tossing/mixing with your hands and then pouring from one bowl to the next is the best way to get it all mixed.) Place pie into crust. Dot with butter. Cover with top crust and slit evenly to let steam escape. Seal the top crust to the bottom by pinching the edges together. Cover edge of crust with a 2-3" strip of aluminum foil. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until crust is brown and juices begin to bubble through top. (We baked for 30 minutes, then removed the foil and finished baking for 10 more minutes.)

Notes:
Gregg loves pie. And this apple pie has yet to let him (or me) down. He's the crust maker. I've started helping out by prepping the apples. I like to think we make a good team. :)

The Original Kim Blanchard Chicken Tortilla Soup

Source: Kim Blanchard (the original ... with a couple of additions by me, Kim Blanchard II)

Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used a couple of shakes of garlic powder since I didn't have real garlic)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can Mexican mix canned tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1 cup water (we used 1 can)
1 can corn, drained
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (Kim says optional, but I say don't leave it out!)
1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (Gregg and I like it shredded)
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded cheese
chopped green onion

Directions:
In a medium pan, heat oil and saute onion, red pepper and garlic till soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir in corn, chiles, beans, cilantro and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle soup into individual bowls, top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado, cheese and green onion.

Notes:
Um ... yum! This soup is fantastic! The only thing I added that wasn't on the recipe from Kim was the red pepper ... just because I was feeling adventurous. I liked it. The cilantro was so good! I think we added about twice as much as the recipe called for, and that might have been too much, but just barely. Wow. Just a super yummy dinner! Gregg and I even thought that the chicken was a minor ingredient ... it would be fantastic without since there are so many other flavors and textures going on already.

(P.S. I couldn't find that anyone had posted this recipe on the Bistro Blog yet, so hopefully I didn't miss it and now we have a duplicate post. If that's the case, I'll delete this one!)

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Source: Marcy Labrum (my good friend from the lab) via Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped *Marcy's advice: freeze (or put in fridge) unwrapped PB cups - it is easier to press the frozen candy into the hot cookie without falling to pieces.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F (I used 350F since I think my oven is hot and my mini muffin pans are the dark, nonstick kind). Sift together the flour, soda, and salt; set aside. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter, and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into 40 balls (I ended up with 48, so some didn't get reeses cups ... but they're great just as peanut butter cookies, too!) and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan. Bake at 375F for about 8 minutes (mine were in for 7, but even 6 might have been enough). Remove from oven and immediately press a peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Notes:
These little wonders are simply delightful. My friend Marcy made them for me last year for my birthday celebration in the lab, and we've been friends ever since. (That's me and the cookies ... Marcy and I have been friends for much longer! ;) She even gave me the recipe, mini muffin pans and a bag of reeses as a bridal shower gift. I was craving something sweet today, and this was the result ... week 3 down on my "try a new recipe a week" goal. (I may have eaten more of these than I dare admit, but today was officially my first day ever attempting their creation myself.)

Beef Sticky Buns

Source: Beefitswhatsfordinner.com


Servings: 4 (8 buns)
Prep Time:
Cook Time: 18-20 minutes
Total Time: 1 to 1-1/4 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage (recipe follows)
• 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 package (13.8 ounces) refrigerated pizza dough
• 1/2 cup jalapeño pepper jelly, warmed (optional) or Cream Cheese "Frosting" (optional, recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Prepare Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage, cooking mushrooms and onion with beef and spices. Add spinach to skillet; stir to wilt spinach. Set mixture aside 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is cooled completely, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese.
2. Preheat oven to 425°F. Unroll pizza dough on flat surface; pat or roll dough evenly to 14 x 10-inch rectangle, pinching together any tears, if necessary. Spread beef mixture on dough, leaving 1/2 inch border on short side furthest from you. Starting at closest short end, roll up jelly-roll style, pinching to close. Slice dough into 8 pieces using serrated knife and careful sawing motion; place cut-side-up on greased baking sheet.
3. Bake in 425°F oven 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove buns to cooling rack. While still warm, drizzle with melted jalapeño pepper jelly or Cream Cheese "Frosting," if desired.

Basic Country Beef Breakfast Sausage:

1. Combine 12 ounces ground beef (96% lean), 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage or 1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 3/4 teaspoon onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper in large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly.
2. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add beef mixture; cook 8 to 10 minutes, breaking into 1/2-inch crumbles and stirring occasionally. Makes 2 cups crumbles.

Cream Cheese "Frosting":

1. Combine 1/4 cup softened reduced-fat cream cheese and 1 tablespoon milk in small bowl, stirring until smooth.
2. Drizzle over warmed beef rolls.

Comments:

We decided to mix things up for Sunday dinner today and try a breakfast-for-dinner menu: banana muffins, Sunday Brunch Bake, and these unique, savory "sticky buns." The buns were really yummy! It was a fun idea to make our own "sausage" with ground beef that we already had on hand. (Although, I'm sure just using sage ground sausage in the first place would cut out on prep time and taste about the same.) We really loved the cream cheese "frosting". . .but the jalapeño pepper jelly would be fun to try next time!

I couldn't find refrigerated pizza dough at the store, so I just used the dough of 12 Rhodes rolls. The rolls tasted fine, but were time-consuming and tricky to combine and roll out flat; next time I think I'll use Kim's pizza crust recipe (in the Bistro cookbook). Also, using a knife to cut the rolls didn't work very well for me, so I cut off the rolls by wrapping around string and pulling it tight. (A tip I remember from making cinnamon rolls in junior high foods class!)