Cocoa Brownies

I am joining Michael at Designs by Gollum  for another Foodie Friday.  Please click on the link and go see what other wonderful dishes everyone is cooking up.  Well, with Valentine's Day almost here I can't help but think of chocolate recipes.  I have already seen some wonderful brownie recipes.  I am going to add my brownie recipe because it is so practical.  Raising a family and cooking daily for years you get the proverbial request out of someone that they want something chocolate.   So, over the years I have learned to scour the cook books in search of chocolate that can be whipped up with cocoa and other ingredients I have on hand.  I got this recipe right off of the back of the Hershey's cocoa container.  The other great thing about this brownie recipe is it is generous, no small wimpy 8"x8" pans for this family.

Brownies

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter

2 cups sugar

2 TSP vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1/2 TSP baking powder

1/4 TSP salt

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9x13 inch pan.  Microwave butter until melted. Mix in sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with spoon after each addition.  Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; mix until well blended.  Stir in nuts.  Pour into pan. Bake 30-35 minutes.  

Cheddar Cheese Soup

I try new recipes all the time, but sometimes I hit upon one that is so good I decide that I do not need to try another version of that recipe again.  It is  the recipe to save and use over and over.  The one with all the spots on it in the recipe box.  This was that recipe for Cheddar Cheese Soup. I got this recipe from one of Paula Deen's cookbooks and you know it has some butter in it.

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
2 large pimentos, chopped (I omit this)
3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 cup half-n-half
3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt & ground black pepper
Dash of cayenne ( I use paprika, to turn down the heat a little)
2 baked potatoes peeled and chopped up (something I add)

In a saucepan, saute' onion and pimentos in butter for 5 to 7 minutes.  Blend in flour.  Add stock and half-n-half.  Cook until thick.  Add cheese and stir until melted.  Add salt and black pepper to taste, and cayenne if desired.  I also add the two baked potatoes (feeding teenagers).   
Yields: 4 servings
I am joining Michael  at Designs by Gollum for another Foodie Friday.  Please go over to her site and check out all the great food, and by judging from the Tablescape Thursday posts I have been reviewing, you should be seeing a lot of tablescape with that food.  Always a plus!  So pull out the crystal and have no regrets!! 

 

Old-Fashioned Vegetable Soup

My Grandmother always made the most delicious homemade vegetable soup.  I never could quite replicate it and then one day I found this recipe in the St. Louis Post and it comes really close.  

Old-Fashioned Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. beef stew meat, cut into bite size chunks

1-2 TBSP oil

6 cups water

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup peeled and cubed potatoes

1 cup peeled and sliced carrots

1 cup sliced celery

1 (16 oz.) can diced tomatoes

3 sprigs parsley, finely chopped

1 TSP salt (I prefer sea salt)

1/2 bay leaf, crumbled

1/4 TSP dried marjoram

1/4 TSP dried thyme

1/2 TSP chili powder

2 TSP Worcestershire sauce

2 cups tomato juice

Pepper, to taste

Brown all meat in hot oil in a large kettle.  Add water; simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours.  

Add remaining ingredients.  Simmer 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 

*Note- This soup gets better every time it is reheated.

Yields:  6-8 servings

(Recipe Source: Winner from Junior League of Indianapolis)

I am joining Michael at Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday.  Please click on her link and go over to take a look at all the great recipes.  

Chicken Noodle Soup

I have been making this soup for years, my boys love it.  This is a recipe that never fails me.  I took this recipe right out of The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Shelia Lukins authors of the Silver Palate Cookbooks.

 Marno's Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1 chicken (4 lbs.), preferably a stewing hen

2 onions, halved

4 whole cloves

4 ribs of celery, with leaves

4 carrots, peeled

3 parsnips, peeled

3 cloves of garlic

6 sprigs dill

6 sprigs parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

3 quarts water

1 chicken bouillon cube

Marno's Noodles (recipe to follow)

1 1/2 cups cooked peas

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

2 TB chopped fresh parsley 

• Rinse the chicken well and place it in a large soup pot.  Stud each onion half with clove, and add them to the pot along with the celery, carrots, parsnips, garlic, sprigs of dill and parsley, and salt and pepper.  Add the water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 2 hours.  Occasionally skim off any foam that forms on top.
• Remove the chicken from the soup and allow it to cool.  Remove the skin and bones, and shred the meat.  Reserve the meat, covered, in the refrigerator. 
• Strain the soup, discarding the vegetables, and return the liquid to the pot.  Add the bouillon cube (for stronger flavor) and adjust the seasonings.  Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes (to intensify the flavor). Set aside.
• Make the noodles.
• Before serving, bring the chicken broth to a gentle boil.  Add the noodles and cook until they are tender, 4 minutes.  Gently stir in the reserved chicken and the peas, chopped dill, and chopped parsley.  Heat through and serve.

Yields: 8 servings 

Marno's Noodles

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/2 TSP salt

2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

* NOTE: I double the noodles-feeding teenage boys:)

• Beat the egg and salt together in a bowl.  Mix the flour in with a fork.  Using your hands, form the mixture into a ball and knead it to form the dough.
• Dust a work surface with flour, and roll the dough out to form a very thin rectangle approximately 18 x9 inches. Dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. 

 

 

• Roll the dough up in jelly-roll fashion, along the long side, to form an 18-inch long roll. Slice crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide rings.
• Carefully shake out the rings to form long noodles, and let them rest on a baking sheet for 10 minutes before adding to the soup. 

Enjoy!

Foodie Friday: Happy New Year!

I am making a traditional New Years dish, Hoppin' John. The custom of eating black-eyed peas  on the first day of the year stems from the belief that they will bring good luck to whoever eats them.  There are a lot of recipes for this but, I used as a base recipe Julee Rosso's recipe for Lucky Red Beans and Rice from Great Good Food.  She and co-author Shelia Lukins wrote the Silver Palate Cookbooks.  Rosso and Lukins always got the flavors right so I knew this recipe should start out with one of their recipes.  

*Note: I exchanged the red beans with black-eyed peas, which is the tradition, and I used   Jasmine rice (that is all the kids will eat) and I omitted the sun dried tomato.

Ingredients:
12 ounces of dried black-eyed peas
8 cups of chicken broth
1 ham hock (about 1 1/2 lb.)
2 cups finely chopped onion
2 cups finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 TB finely minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/2 TSP dried thyme
1/4 TSP cayenne
1/2 TSP freshly ground pepper
1 1/3 cups rice


1. Rinse the peas and place them in a large soup pot with the chicken broth, ham hock, onion, celery, green pepper, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, cayenne, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until the peas are tender.  
2. Add the rice and cook for 25 minutes more.  Ladel into bowls and serve immediately.
YIELDS: 12 servings

Have a very Happy and blessed New Year!  Please go to Designs by Gollum and see all the other Foodie Friday posts.