Bacon topped Roasted Pumpkin and Cauliflower Soup

This soup was so easy and delicious I have to write down how I made it so that I can make it again next winter! It all started because I didn't cook a meal I had planned which left me with half of a pumpkin and a head of cauliflower that really needed to be used.  I didn't really have a piece of meat or any potatoes to go with them so a roast was not on the table.  I didn't want to go to the shops ... you know, it was one of those days!  We all have them, right?! So, I scrounged around and this is what I came up with.

1/2 of a Kent pumpkin

1 head of cauliflower 

1 head of garlic

A couple of onions

I chopped the pumpkin and cauliflower, peeled and quartered the onions, and just peeled the garlic.  I put all of that in a large baking dish (lined with baking paper of course) and coasted with olive oil.  I roasted them in the oven on like 180C (350F) until the pumpkin was soft and the cauliflower was starting to brown. 

I put all of that into my blender, added a bit of chicken stock and blended it to a thick soup consistency. 

We love toppings on our soups too so while the veggies were roasting, I chopped up the following.

1 small onion

A couple cloves of garlic

A few rashers of bacon

I fried them all together ... starting with the bacon because it takes a bit longer ... then adding the garlic and onion and cooking til garlic is not longer bitter and onions are soft.

I served the soup in a bowl, sprinkled with the topping. 

I had intended to grab a few chives out of the garden as well to sprinkle on the top, but I forgot!  Oh well ... next time!

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

I found this recipe at A Year Of Slow Cooking. You all know about that blog right ? No ... well, you need to go check it out !! The blog author, Stephanie, made a new years resolution to use her crock pot EVERY DAY for the year 2008 !! And she did it ! So, yeah, no shortage of crock pot recipes over there !!!

I modified the recipe just a little ... here's how I did mine.

2.5 lbs (just over a kilo) potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pinch chili powder
1 quart chicken broth ( i used water and stock cubes)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, to add at the end
crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado to serve

Put everything minus the cream cheese, bacon, spring onions and avocado into the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. (I did high last night) The potatoes should be fork-tender. Add the cream cheese and put lid back on to let cream cheese melt.  I left it for about 20 minutes.

Cook the bacon.

Get your stick blender into the crock pot and blend everything together.

Garnish with crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado !! Delish !!

My husband who "doesn't like soup" had two helpings of this last night and took if for lunch today !! Soon he will have to stop making the "i don't like soup" statement because he likes many many soups now !!

Cheats Philly Cheesesteak Grilled Cheese

These were simple and delicious and the whole family liked them.

 I found this recipe through pinterest.  I mostly followed the recipe ...

I doubled their recipe to make 4 sandwiches but we ended up being able to make more than that.

Olive oil

1 green bell pepper (capsicum)

1 small onion

Bread, 8 slices

Roast Beef from the deli, 450g

Cheese, I used tasty (white cheddar) and mozzarella

Thinly slice pepper and onion.  Sautee in a bit of olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat. 

Pre-heat sandwich press (or frying pan if doing the old fashioned way!) 

They buttered the bread, I never do when making sandwiches in the the sandwich press.  You can do what you like. 

Chop up the roast beef into long thin strips. 

Layer sandwich like this ... bread, cheese, pepper/onions/ roast beef, cheese, bread. 

Toast until cheese is melted.

Pollo Encebollado

I'm not really sure how to translate the name of this dish exactly. Onionfied Chicken? Beonioned? Oniontastic? Let's just call it Chicken Covered in Onion Glory. Whatever you call it, it is mighty tasty. The original recipe is here, but I modified it quite a bit according to my own personal preference and what I actually had in my kitchen.

2 lbs of chicken (I usually use drumsticks)
Salt
2-3 T oil
2 onions sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 cup water
The juice of one lime
1 tsp Tabasco sauce (optional but highly recommended)
Seasoned bread crumbs

Rinse the chicken, pat dry; season with salt and brown in oil. Once browned, remove from pan and set aside. Pour off excess oil and add the onions. Cook over med-low heat for 10 minutes, add the garlic and cook another 3-5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and starting to brown.  Add the chicken back in along with the chicken stock, water, lime juice and Tabasco. Increase heat to medium and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.

Thicken sauce with seasoned bread crumbs just before serving. 

Serve with rice.

Potato Bake

I'd never had potato bake before coming to Australia. I love it.
But don't make it very often, usually only when other people
come over so we don't eat the whole thing by ourselves !!

Here's what you need :

Potatoes, I have no idea how many, I just cut as I go
Grated Cheese, I use a mixture of Mozzarella and Tasty (Cheddar)
Minced Garlic
Cream
Onion, sliced
French Onion Soup Mix

Ok ... get ready, this is a very technical recipe. With very specific measurements !

Mix the french onion soup and cream with a blop of minced garlic.



Slice your onion and potatoes. Like I said, I just slice the potatoes as I go. (I use a mandolin slicer to get them thin and uniform) And as you can see, I don't bother peeling the potatoes.



Do layers of cream, potato, onion, cheese, cream, potato, onion, cheese, etc .... til you get to the top of your baking dish.



Make your last layer cheese.

Cover and bake in a 180C/360F oven for about an hour. (or until potato is tender) Remove cover and bake another 10 minutes or so to brown the cheese on top.

Easy Peasy Quiche

Years ago, a friend of mine gave me this recipe. It's such a good recipe because you can pretty much throw anything in it !

Mix together:
3 eggs
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 & 1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup filling (whatever you like)

Throw it all in a quiche dish and bake in the oven. I did mine on 180 and I think it took about 30 minutes but play with it. Next time I make one, I'll make note of how long it took ...

The one pictured here was really nice.

I cooked up a bit of bacon, onion and garlic. Once that was cooked, I threw in some white wine. I didn't measure, just poured it in. Maybe 1/4 of a cup ? I reduced that til there was no liquid left. Chopped up a handful of mushrooms and threw them in. I also had some leftover chicken so I chopped that up and threw it in. I had a little square of cream cheese that needed to be used. I melted that in with the bacon once it was cooked. I added a bit of salt and pepper too. I thought about adding some fresh herbs but in the end I didn't. Maybe it was raining and I didn't feel like going out to the garden ?

Anyway ... this is a great dish to get creative with. You really can't stuff it up ! Just make sure you don't add too much extra liquid !

Mom's Carbonara

Today is my husband's 33rd birthday ! Our lives are so crazy busy this week that we celebrated with a birthday dinner last night ! Every other night this week ... we will be out ! Including tonight ! CRAZY. BUSY ! but I said that already ! Anyway ... he always requests lasagna but this year, to be kind to me and my current crazy business, he chose Mom's carbonara instead. I went to the blog to get the recipe and discovered that it wasn't here !?!? WHAT? !?! This recipe NEEDS to be here ! And in about 3 minutes ... it will be !

Ingredients:
1/2 (250g) lb bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup heavy (thickened) cream
4 eggs
1 & 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (I prefer the processed stuff for this ... not fresh)
3 or 4 tablespoons butter
spaghetti (I use vermicelli)

Method:
I usually put the water on for the pasta about the time I add the onion ...

Cook the bacon about 1/2 way then add the onion. Continue to cook until bacon is well cooked. If you need to pour out some of the oil, do, but you need about 3 tbls oil left in the bacon. Pour the cream in. Simmer until the bacon is 'coated' with the cream.

In the mean time, beat the eggs and add the parmesan cheese. Whip it and then leave it alone. The cheese sucks up the egg. The mixture shouldn't look 'eggy' ...

Put your pasta into the now boiling water.

(Make salad if you are serving that as well ....)

When the pasta is nearly ready, melt the butter in the microwave.

Drain pasta. Put back into hot pan. Stir in butter. Stir in egg mixture. Stir in bacon/onion/cream mixture. A sprinkle of garlic powder on top is amazing ! We just put the garlic powder on the table and let everyone do their own !

Last night (and usually) I served this with ...

Chunky Spanish Garlic Bread

Black Olive Salad

and my new favorite wine ...

Onion Rings

These are so yum.
And easy ... I think. I haven't actually made them.
Jono (8) does most of it ...

Rory found this recipe and we've modified it, like this ...

1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 & 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk, or as needed
3/4 cup homemade bread crumbs ... just throw whole wheat bread (we use the ends mostly) into your food processor ... whizz til crumbed. I save the bread ends in the freezer and throw them into the food processor frozen ! Too easy !
salt to taste
oil for frying, or as needed

**

Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).

Separate the onion slices into rings, and set aside. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt.

Coat onion slices with flour mixture & set aside. Whisk the egg and milk into the flour mixture using a fork. Coat floured rings with this batter.

Spread the bread crumbs out on a plate and coat onion slices with them.

Deep fry the rings a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to paper towels to drain. Season with salt, and serve.

Delicious !

We ran out of bread crumbs and were too lazy to make more so we tried some with just the batter ... they were fantastic as well. Like big clumps of battered onion ... sort of like the bloomin' onion at Outback Steakhouse !

Quick and Easy Spicy Tortilla Soup

I found this recipe here.

I didn't change much...

1 green pepper

1 medium sweet onion

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (you won't need all of it unless you like your soup ON FIRE!)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and pepper

4 cups chicken broth

1 can can diced Mexican style tomatoes (I used these...cause they are so awesome)

1 cup frozen sweet corn, thawed.

1/4 cup..or so of chopped up fresh cilantro

1 chicken breast, diced

Tortilla chips, for topping

sour cream, for topping

Monterey Jack, shredded, for topping

limes

few slices of avocado

1. In a large pot heat the oil on medium heat and saute the onions. Add bell pepper, jalapenos (I added two or 3 thin slices...diced.), salt and pepper. Cook until the onions become translucent. Add the cumin and stir until fragrant.
2. Add Chicken. Cook for a few minutes.
3. Add chopped cilantro and chicken broth, tomatoes and corn.
4. Cook for about 15 minutes (until chicken is cooked through)
5. Add salt to taste

Pour into bowl

Crush a handful of tortilla chips on top of soup. Sprinkle cheese, dollop sour cream, squeeze lime and throw a couple slices of avocado on top (We forgot the avocado on ours! But added a spoonful of pico de gallo!)

Enjoy!

We served ours with an amazing Steak Cobb Salad!

Creamy Parmesan Mustard Chicken Pasta

Ok, so you all know that we are eating no preservatives, no additives, no white flour, sugar etc this year. Well, when I don't have leftovers, and I've run out of bread, I have to cook something for lunches the next day. I could probably MAKE more bread but I'd rather cook ! I whipped this little beauty up at the beginning of the week and it lasted the four of us 3 lunches ! I'll tell you ... whole wheat pasta fills you up quicker and therefore stretches a lot longer than regular pasta !

Here's what I used ...
1 chicken breast
2 big handfuls of baby spinach
1 red onion, sliced thinly
3 cloves of garlic, I think I slivered them
1.5 tablespoons whole grain seed mustard
3/4 cup thickened cream
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tablespoon whole wheat flour
1 bag of whole wheat penne pasta

Here's what I did ...

Boil the pasta.

While that's boiling, sautee your onion and garlic, til onion is not raw and the garlic smells yum. Add chicken (and salt/pepper to taste) and cook til no longer pink. Add flour. Stir to coat chicken. Add cream, mustard, parmesan cheese and spinach. Stir to mix it up and cook for a few minutes while the cream thickens, cheese melts and spinach wilts.

Drain pasta and add to fry pan ... or if your frying pan isn't a really cool, really big, electric one that your brother in law gave you for Christmas, add your chicken sauce to your pasta !

I'm submitting this to Cooking Thursday ... hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. For more great recipes, check her Cooking Thursday posts each week !!

Fajitas

AK and I made YUMMY fajitas the other night. Here's what we did:

Slice colorful peppers into thin strips. Place on lightly oiled (we just sprayed PAM I think) VERY HOT griddle. We broke out the awesome griddle from Japan. Really the key is HOT and let them brown.

Thin slice some onions and add them to griddle when the peppers are brown but not soft. Cook until the onions and peppers are done to your satisfaction
Next, slice thin beef (I can't remember what we used) into very thin slivers. After you have removed the onions and peppers from the griddle, place the meat on. Be sure to not put to many piece on at once because you want them to brown, not boil in their own juices. Also, keep in mind that the meat is very thin so it will cook almost instantly. Brown on one side, turn, brown on other side, remove.

We had a "helpful" kitty that was CONSTANTLY underfoot!

We topped our fajitas with cheese and sour cream. YUM!!! And with two of us in the kitchen, it really didn't take long at all.

Black Olive Salad

This has been my favorite salad for my whole life !
So simple. So delicious.
This is why my Mom mails Italian Dressing mix to me !!
(can't buy it in Australia and the ready made ones just aren't the same !!)

I use iceberg lettuce because it is so crispy !
Sliced black olives but only because they are the only ones I can buy pitted.
Onion. Thinly sliced.
Italian Dressing.

DONE.

COPS ~ Cabbage Onion Polish Sausage

I ordered a box of veggies last week.
It included a whole cabbage.
What the heck does one do with a whole cabbage ?

Rory and I do this.

Chop up half the cabbage.
Chop an onion.
Chop up some polish sausage.

Heat a bit of olive oil.
Brown sausage.
Add onion.
Add cabbage.
Pour a big of soy sauce on top.

DONE !

Put it on top of rice.
Easy.
Yummy.

We still have 1/2 a cabbage and 1/2 a polish sausage ... we'll be having this again next week !

Yummo Spinach Salad

I can't believe I didn't get a good photo of this salad on it's own.
It is so good ! I can't wait for you all to try it and tell me what you think !!
It's a Pioneer Woman recipe ... they are ALWAYS good !!

You can find the orignial recipe here.
I didn't do it exactly like her.
Seemed too complicated !
Here's how I did it ...

Pioneer Woman’s Spinach Salad - the Bonnie Way.

3 eggs
bacon - how ever much you like
1 small red onion (or 1/2 large onion)
1 package white button mushrooms (about 12 mushrooms), sliced
8 ounces baby spinach, washed, dried, and large stems removed
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Dash of salt

Make hard boiled eggs. Set aside.

Fry bacon to desired crispiness. Add onions and mushrooms.

Make hot bacon dressing: Add 3 tablespoons bacon grease, vinegar, sugar, and Dijon to a small saucepan or skillet over medium-low heat. Whisk mixture together and heat thoroughly. Now ... I didn't have anywhere near that much bacon grease in my pan. I had very little in fact because I was using Australian, not American bacon !! I just added a bit of olive oil to the pan that I cooked everything in and then followed the same instructions as above ...

Add spinach to a large bowl. Arrange onions, mushrooms, and bacon on top. Pour hot dressing over the top; toss to combine.

Arrange sliced eggs over the top and serve.

DELICIOUS !!!

I served this with Quinoa Crusted Chicken Fingers. That recipe coming soon ...

Tangy Olive Salad

This was a tangy little salad that I think would be fabulous as a bruschetta ...
on top of a nice piece of toasted turkish bread !!

I enjoyed it the other night as a side dish to tortilla espanola.
Rory thought it was a bit tart.
The kids ... well, my two are such little troopers.
They really do eat everything I put in front of them with very little complaint.
I was surprised to not hear one complaint about the raw onion in this ...
Alia did ask if the red stuff was tomato or capsicum.
Once she knew it was tomato, she had no other issues !!

I used this recipe as a base but adapted it because I couldn't find fresh parsley and had fresh chives in my garden ... Also, I used olives with pimento in them ... next time I won't.

Here's how I made it this time ....

1 cup green olives
1/2 a red onion
a few small spring onions
fresh herbs
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tomato ( I may add two next time)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Chop tomato, onions and herbs and place in bowl with olives.
Squeeze the lemon into the bowl ... preferably using your handy dandy citrus press.
Pour salad onto a plate add olive oil and pomegranate molasses.

Serve ...

Foods of The World - Potluck

This is a savory dish, wonderfully complemented by sweet amarillos, the recipe for which also follows. It may seem a little strange--rice and potatoes?!--so let me just say, a Puerto Rican diet is not for the faint of heart, or for those watching their carbs! But trust me, once you get a whiff of this while it's cooking, you won't care how many calories or carbs are in it. If you feel the need to assuage any guilt, though, serve it with a salad.

Pollo Guisado con Papas
Stewed Chicken with Potatoes

6 chicken pieces (I use boneless, skinless thighs, but it's your preference)
2 or 3 large Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large sweet onion, cubed
6 - 12 cloves garlic, minced (depends how much you like garlic!); can substitute minced garlic you buy in a jar
12 green olives (you can always pick them out if you don't like them, but cook with them for flavor)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 Cup white cooking wine
1 Cup olive oil (if you're concerned about the amount, you can reduce it, but I wouldn't go less than 1/2 a Cup)
1/4 Cup white vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

Combine everything in a large pot, stirring to coat the chicken and vegetables with the sauce mixture. Push the chicken down, covering it with the vegetables, to keep it tender and ensure it cooks through.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high. Keep at a steady boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir, ensuring the chicken is covered again. Cook 30 more minutes. Check potatoes for tenderness; if necessary, cook an additional 15 minutes. If you don't serve it immediately, reduce heat to low and cover.

Serve over white rice with amarillos on the side.

Amarillos
Fried Plantains

These sweet, fried plantains (platanos) are called amarillos in Puerto Rico, and maduros in Cuba. Amarillo means yellow in Spanish, and maduro means mature or ripe, so they're both apt names for the ripe, yellow plantains used to make them!

Ripe plantains (also known as green bananas), 1 plantain per 2 people should be enough
Olive oil (or vegetable oil, if you prefer)

Allow plantains to ripen at room temperature until yellow with black spotting, to the point where they almost look spoiled. Depending on how green they are when you buy them, this could take a week or more, so plan accordingly. You can speed the ripening process by storing the plantains in a brown paper bag with a small apple. Just be sure to keep a close watch on them to prevent spoiling! This is what they should look like.

Using a very sharp knife, cut off the ends of the plantain and split the skin down the length of it. The fruit inside should be pinkish-yellow. Carefully peel. A plantain's skin is thinner than a banana's, and it adheres a bit more to the fruit when it's ripe, so it's not as easily peeled as a banana. Cut off any bruised spots.

Pour oil into a shallow frying pan, about 3/4 inch deep. Heat oil over medium heat. While the oil is heating up, slice plantains into wedges, about 1/4 inch thick.

Place plantain wedges in oil but do not overlap them.

Fry, turning once, until deep golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Serve and eat together. The two flavors mixing and melting in your mouth...heaven!

You can reheat leftover pollo guisado in the microwave or on the stove top, but I recommend reheating amarillos on a lightly greased or foil-covered baking sheet in the oven or toaster oven at about 300 degrees for just a few minutes.

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I do. ¡Buen provecho!

What to do with that big ole cabbage ?

This is an easy-peasy-throw-a-meal-together-without-thinking dish that is always a hit here.
It also came in handy last week when I needed to use an entire cabbage !

All you need is:
Cabbage
Onion
Polish Sausage
Rice
Soy Sauce

All you do is:
Cook your rice ... in your rice cooker, if you have one !
Brown the chopped up sausage, add the onion and cabbage.
Add a bit of soy sauce.
Cook ' til the veggies are the softness you like.

Serve the veg/sausage mixture on top of the rice.

Rory's Carbonara

This is a favorite around here ...

My husband Rory made this recipe up when he was studying at University. Every Friday night he would have this carbonara and a bottle of wine for dinner ....

~

I love it because it is equally as easy as it is yummy. I keep most of these things in my house so usually just have to buy the bacon if I haven't got any in the freezer.

~

We had it last night ... needed something I could cook without thinking. You Mom's know how that goes right ? Sick kid ... long day ... what to do for dinner ?!?! Plus, Jono said he would like to have bacon for dinner ... perfect meal for all of us !!

~

The Recipe ....

Ingredients:

• bacon - roughly 250g (1/2 lb) - chopped
• 1 onion - chopped
• garlic - slivered ( you can put as little or as much as you like. I use a whole head of garlic when I make this but we are HEAVY on the garlic eaters !! )
• fresh rosemary - 1 or 2 sprigs
• pasta - I like vermicelli or thin spaghetti. Rory likes fettucine. The kids like spirals.
• parmesan cheese

Put water on to boil. Cook pasta. (when finished, drain and run under a bit of cold water so it doesn't stick together)

While pasta is cooking. Put a bit of olive oil in a frying pan - or you can leave it out if your bacon makes lots of grease. Cook bacon 'til almost done ( we like it crispy but you can do it to your desired taste ! ) Add garlic and chopped rosemary. Cook 'til garlic is just starting to brown. Add onion. Cook 'til soft.

Put pasta back in pan (or in serving dish). Add bacon mixture. Add parmesan cheese. We probably add a cup - at least. Mix to coat. Serve with salad and nice bread.

Rory has been known to add black olives and/or sliced mushrooms to this dish as well.

~

EVERYONE in our little family LOVES this meal ! No complaints !

Trin's Chicken Casserole

Ever wonder what to do with those leftover bits of roast chicken ? Ok ... so we don't normally have as much as you see on this chicken ... usually it's really just scraps. But for the sake of the chicken photo ... I'm keeping this one !!

Years ago, my friend Katrina gave me this recipe passed on to her by her mother in law (if I remember the story correctly.) It's simple and yummy. I've modified mine a bit ... because, well, because that's what I do !!
~
Preheat oven. 180C/375F

What do you need ? Chicken that you've picked off of the bones. A bit of bacon. A potato. 1/2 an onion. Some flour. A package of chicken noodle soup mix.

Cook the bacon in a frying pan til desired state of crunchy or non crunchy-ness. Add onion. Sautee til desired tenderness. Add chicken and sprinkle with flour.

Cook a couple minutes ... just to get it all mixed in with the flour. I think the flour acts as a thickener when you cook it in the oven.

Throw all of that from the frying pan into a casserole dish. Add uncooked, diced potatoes.

Sprinkle with chicken noodle soup mix.

Cover with water.

Cook in oven ... 30 minutes ? 45 minutes ?
If you cook it longer, it becomes less soupy.
Sometimes we want soupy.
Sometimes we want not so soupy.
We play it by ear.
Serve with lovely fresh crusty bread.
Or don't.

This week I served it with roasted cauliflower.