Recipes Discovered

Spaghetti Squash Cacciatore Soup Recipe

I was trying to use up some leftover vegetables last night, mostly mushrooms and spaghetti squash, and ended up concocting a new recipe. At first, I thought I could make something like cacciatore, with mushrooms, peppers, and onions and spaghetti squash as a replace for the pasta. I sauteed the onions and peppers until they were soft and then added the mushrooms. After adding the spaghetti squash, I thought it needed a little something more so I added some fresh tomatoes that had been cooked. To add some protein, I tossed in some leftover chicken breast. After seasoning it with salt and parsley, I served it in bowls, since it turned out to be a cross between cacciatore and soup. It tasted great though, very fresh, and used up a lot of veggies, which was the point!

Stuffing Recipe

My brother called yesterday and asked if my mom could make stuffing for my sister-in-law’s birthday party. Of course she said yes, and then he told her that 100 people were invited. So we ended up making a lot of stuffing today, but since I never made real stuffing before, it was a learning experience for me.

Based on her expert calculations (which I’m still not sure how they work, but they do), we needed 6 loaves of bread, 1 pound of carrots, 2 very large sweet onions (about 4 cups diced), 2 bunches of celery, 3 pounds of potatoes, a dozen and a half of eggs, 1 can of chicken broth, and a pound of butter, plus all the seasonings. She figured that would make two 17x12x3 pans – big roasting pans – of stuffing and would feed at least 60 people. >> Read more

Rolls Recipe

Cinnamon Butter Recipe 1 (brown sugar)

Cinnamon Butter Recipe 2 (honey)

Texas Roadhouse recently opened a restaurant in our area. It’s an interesting restaurant, appealing to a younger crowd with line dancing and throwing peanut shells on the floor. While the whole meal was actually pretty good, the fresh rolls were outstanding and the whipped cinnamon butter was amazing. After a quick Internet search, I found a recipe for the rolls and three different recipes for the butter.

Starting with the butter, I decided to try 2 of the 3 recipes I found. One called for brown sugar and the other called for honey. If I would have thought about it, I would have known the restaurant didn’t use the one with the brown sugar because it would have been gritty, but I didn’t think that far ahead. The third recipe that I didn’t try called for corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk. It didn’t sound quite right, which is why I just made the other two. >> Read more

Vegetable Beef Soup Recipe

With all the fresh garden vegetables we have, soup seemed to be a good solution to using them up. This is my mom’s vegetable beef soup recipe. It takes a bit of time, but it’s worth it.

Start by searing either chuck roast or broil over high heat in an 8 quart pot. Chuck roast has a little bit more flavor (more marbling), but I can’t always find it at the grocery store. Once the meat was browned on both sides, I add lots of tomatoes and onions. Canned tomatoes work well in the winter, but since we have hundreds of tomatoes in the garden, I used fresh. To peel the tomatoes, I added tomatoes to boiling water just for a second and then drained them. The skin just peeled right off. I allowed that to simmer for about 2 1/2 hours before adding celery. A half hour after I added the celery, I removed the meat and added carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. When the meat was cool enough to handle, I shredded it apart and added it back to the soup along with fresh corn cut from the cob, peas, and string beans. I let the soup simmer for about an hour before checking for seasoning. I added 4 cups of beef broth and about a 1/4 cup of fresh parsley, and let the soup simmer another hour. Since we all like it seasoned differently, I didn’t add any salt or pepper, but I put it on the table with the soup.

This soup is good at any time. In the winter, it’s a warm comfort food. In the summer, it’s a fresh, healthy meal. It’s also a nice dish to take to someone who needs a little pick-me-up.

Smothered Chicken Recipe

My mom’s birthday was Monday, so I planned on making her favorite dish – smothered chicken. The recipe is a knock-off we came up with a few years ago from a chicken dish she ordered at Applebee’s. We changed a few things and came up with our own delicious version.
The chicken breast needs to be even and thin (about a 1/2 inch), so I pounded the chicken out, which also tenderized the meat a little. I seasoned the chicken with season-all, which has salt in it so I usually skip adding more salt, and then put it in a skillet over low heat. Low heat is the key to keeping the chicken moist. The pan needs to be hot, but then lower the heat so the chicken cooks slowly. It took about 12 minutes on each side to cook through.
While the chicken was cooking, I added sliced onions and pepper to another skillet. I also cooked these over low heat for about 10 minutes until they were soft. I then seasoned them with a little salt and added honey. In another skillet, I cooked sliced mushrooms with butter until they were browned and then seasoned them with salt and garlic powder.
Once the chicken was cooked through, I topped it with the cooked vegetables and then with shredded cheese and covered it until the cheese melted.
It seems like a lot of different pans going on, but by cooking everything separately, it created a unique flavor combination that isn’t quite the same if everything was cooked in one pan. The chicken was very moist, the onions and peppers were sweet, the mushrooms were spicy, and the cheese added a rich flavor to everything. Together, it create a delicious dish. I think my mom was pretty happy with her birthday dinner.