Carrot Ginger Soup

I still don't have my camera working, so for now I only have the final image. I know, I know...I'm working on it. Here is a recipe I made today for carrot soup...it is DELISH. Once again, soups prevail!

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup fresh ginger, grated

good virgin olive oil

2 lbs of carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

6 cups of vegetable stock or chicken stock

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of red pepper flakes

(top with a dollop of sour cream, a drizzle of olive oil, and some fresh ground pepper)

In a saucepan heat up a drizzle of olive oil, add the onions and cook until translucent--about ten minutes. Add in the minced garlic and ginger and cook an additional 5 minutes. Add in the stock and chopped carrots and the red pepper flakes. Cook, uncovered for about 30 minutes until carrots are just cooked through. Remove pot from heat and use a hand blender to puree the soup, if you don't have a hand blender you can make batches in a food processor. add the juice of the 1/2 lemon and taste, add salt as needed and it's ready to serve.

I add a dollop of the sour cream, a drizzle of the olive oil and some fresh pepper for a little additional flavor. YUM!

Mumbo Gumbo

WOW. I had no idea gumbo was so delicious! I read over about 5 or 6 gumbo recipes, and wanted to take my turn and try it. This recipe will NOT disappoint... everyone tonight had seconds! It received rave reviews from the 5 lucky enough to try it. ;) Oh, and my dog knocked over my camera the other day, so I don't have the step by step photos...although I have a backup so just be patient for the next posting...

You'll need the following:

1 1/4lb Kielbasa sausage, sliced thin (or you can use chicken apple sausage)

3 large skinless chicken breasts, each piece cut into thirds

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 tbs butter

1 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce

fresh parsley

1 28oz can whole organic tomatoes

1/2 lb deveined, and peeled

4 cups good chicken stock

2 tbs Southwest Spices (equal parts cumin, cayenne pepper, salt,

In a large dutch oven or heavy bottom pot heat up about 3 tbs of olive oil, and add the slices of sausage and lightly brown them up. Remove them from the pan. Toss the cut chicken with two tbs of olive oil, season with salt and pepper and add them to the pan to brown on both sides. Do not worry about cooking chicken all the way through, you just want to get a good seal around the chicken. Once lightly browned, remove the chicken from the pan. Add in the diced onion, minced garlic and diced bell pepper and cook for about 10 minutes. Add in the butter and flour and stir constantly to get the the roux going, about 5 minutes. Add in the chicken stock, and mix together to combine the roux and stock. Add the chicken and sausage slices, and the can of whole tomatoes, including the juices. (I chopped the tomatoes first before adding them). Bring to a boil and let simmer for 1 hr, stirring occasionally. I added another tbs of the Southwest Spices, but that's optional. Add in the shrimp, and let simmer until shrimp are cooked through, roughly 7-10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over white rice.

Yummy Zucchini Bread

I have had a craving for zucchini this and zucchini that lately, so here's my recipe for zucchini bread. And of course since it's baking, I love to add that tablespoon of brandy into it for a little background flavor that people seem to love. This was a hit at New Years Eve Brunch.

Butter and flour two loaf pans, and preheat the oven to 325.

Take 2 medium zucchinis, peel them and shred them with a grater.

It should make about 2 cups of grated zucchini. I blotted mine with a paper towel, just to remove some of the excess water from the zucchini.

In a large bowl, beat 3 eggs together until frothy.

Mix in 1 cup vegetable oil and 2 cups sugar.

Stir in your grated zucchini, 1 tbs vanilla, 1 tbs brandy.

Stir in 3 cups of flour, adding 1 cup at a time, stir then add the next cup.

So here's 1...

2...Keep mixing it together

and finally the third cup...

Once all three cups are combined, add in 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt

1/2 cup of chopped pecans. (walnuts would be great too) I also added a tiny amount of lemon zest, maybe a tsp of a lemon I had handy.

Pour half of the mixture into one loaf pan, and the other half into the other. Bake for 60-65 minutes.

Awe baby...

The best part of this recipe is that since it makes 2 loaves, you have one for yourself and one you can give. Or you can pop the extra loaf into the freezer until your other one is eaten up!

yum!

I think I'll go have my last slice now...

Baked Zucchini Chips

Here are some Zucchini Chips I made, they go great with a Ranch style dip. I think kids will like this because, it disguises the zucchini so you can trick them into eating their vegetables!

I combined 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp seasoned salt, 1 tsp of garlic powder, and a dash of pepper. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

I used my mandolin to slice up the zucchini, but slice the zucchini the same width, thin slices about 1/4 inch. I put a glug of half and half into a little bowl, and did the "dry hand" "wet hand" to coat the zucchini.

Use a wire rack on top of your baking sheet, and make sure it's coated in cooking spray. Go ahead and start laying them out.

I cut up two medium sized zucchinis, and they filled up the entire tray.

Bake them for about 20-25 minutes, depending on how crisp you want them.

I served mine in a wine glass with and without wax paper, just because it looked so pretty.

See? :)

Kicked Up Creamy Potato Soup

My sister loves potato soup so I thought I would take a chance and make it. turns out, it's easy and way more DELISH when it's fresh. She said it was better than the soup she buys every week, so score one for me!

The best part of this recipe, for me anyway, is that you can rough chop everything--thanks to my new hand blender I got for the holidays, everything will get blended together and no one will notice your lopsided chops of potatoes!

First I sauteed some onions with GOOD extra virgin olive oil for about 5-7 minutes

then I added two chopped carrots and let them simmer for an additional 5 minutes. I added in a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a sprinkle of thyme + parsley, and a little salt and pepper.

I rough chopped 4 large Idaho potatoes, and added them to the pot. I poured in about 1/4 cup of dry white wine and let the potatoes absorb the flavor of the wine.

Once the wine is absorbed, I added 4 cups of chicken stock and a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Let simmer for about 15 minutes, to allow the potatoes to suck in all the flavors.

Once the potatoes are cooked through, I added in some chopped freshly cooked bacon, about 6 slices. Chop up the remaining slices and reserve for garnish.

Then I removed the pot from the heat, used my hand blender and went to town.

If you don't have a hand blender you do batches by using a food processor. After the potatoes were the consistency that I wanted, I poured in two cups of half and half, and another cup of chicken stock. I mixed it all together and voila. A great soup!

I HIGHLY recommend serving this with a wallop of sour cream and a little sprinkle of some of that leftover chopped bacon. :) I hardly had any leftovers.

Fresh Nicoise Salad

This is a nicoise salad I made, it's great because it's so elegant looking and at the same time so easy to create. Plus everyone can pick and choose what they want to eat. I don't have the step-by-step photographed, but my friend was able to take the shots on his iPhone before we dug in. I grilled a tuna steak, with salt pepper and extra virgin olive oil. It took about 3 minutes per side. Remove from grill pan and set aside. I boiled some small red potatoes in heavily salted water until cooked through. Remove from pot and set aside. I used grape tomatoes, which I sliced in half, and sauteed in extra virgin olive oil, a tsp of minced garlic, some thyme, fresh chopped basil + parsley, and some salt + pepper. I let them cook until the skins were getting loose from the bodies. Remove from pan and set aside. I made a vinaigrette dressing using 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 tbs dijon mustard, 3 tbs white wine vinegar, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tbs fresh parsley, and juice from 1/2 lemon. Whisk together and add salt and pepper to taste. I put the potatoes in a Tupperware container, and a little of the vinaigrette, and gave them a good shake. While they were sitting and soaking up the vinaigrette, I started arranging the salad. I used romaine lettuce and created a base, and added a handful of blanched green beans, some bean sprouts, I flaked the cooked tuna and spread that around, I added the herbed tomatoes, the potatoes, some sliced cucumbers, and three hard boiled eggs cut in half. Then I drizzled the vinaigrette all over the salad. Everyone L O V E D it. It's one good looking salad. ;)

More Christmas Cake Pops!

Here's Santa + Snowmen....Happy Holidays!

Ho Ho Ho... his beard is made with icing and coconut, and I "drew" on his Santa hat with some melted red candy melts.

Aren't these snowmen adorable?! I love the little guy in the middle. I just used m+m's for the earmuffs, and some peel away twizzlers for the scarves. The noses are made of cut candy melts.

Let me know that you stopped by! :)

Christmas Cake Pops!

Ready or not, here comes my Christmas cake pops! This is part one of two, as I couldn't finish the other three designs today (but not to worry, they will be up by tomorrow night). Here's a little bit of my process, sketches always come first.

I use my sprinkles + goodness on my sketches to see how they're going to work out...

ahh, those reindeer are going to be adorable!

Ho Ho Ho!

and here's what I pull out of the pantry to inspire me.

and most importantly...here are the first three pops!

Penguins!!

I had leftover candy corns from the Turkey Cake Pops, and they seemed to fit perfectly for these adorable little guys.

Say "hi" to your friends! (that goes to Sug + Janet)

Christmas Trees!!

well someone wants me to move on to the last design of the day...

I just used m&m's for the noses..and just regular pretzels for the antlers. I drew their little smiles on with candy writers.

Stay tuned for tomorrow: Santa Claus, Snowmen, and Angels....I must warn you Santa is ADORABLE.