Welcome to my cookbook! I have several recipes that folks have asked for, so I decided to post them here. Some are included in the ward cookbook, but many of them are things I found after that was published so I wanted a place to put them so my family had access to them. I'll add to this as I find things that I think need to be shared. If you have a recipe you'd like to add, let me know and I'll add you as a contributor.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole Bake

I found this recipe on a southern cooking blog and it looked really good. I'll try to post a picture of the finished product. The cook who made it types just like she must talk, and it's really a cute blog called "Deep South Dish." There were enough other fun things on that blog that I might poke around for more. Anyway, the recipe:

Ingredients:
  • 3-4 cups of cooked chicken (or 3 to 5 pieces of raw chicken) I'll bet you could also use leftover turkey
  • 2 cups chicken stock/broth 
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of unsalted butter
  • 1 cup self-rising flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup

Instructions: Use precooked chicken or poach raw chicken in the chicken broth or stock in a medium sized saucepan. Cook on a low simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is mostly done. It will finish cooking in the oven. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool but reserve the stock.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a Pyrex measuring cup, melt 1/2 stick of butter in the microwave and pour that into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Shred the chicken and spread it on top of the butter.  In that same Pyrex cup, whisk together the milk and the flour and slowly pour that over the chicken taking care not to disturb the chicken too much. Don't stir it up!  Strain the chicken stock through a colander into the same Pyrex cup (now you know why I wanted ya to melt that butter in it!) and whisk in the cream of chicken soup. Very carefully pour that over the flour and milk mixture and again, don't stir it up!  Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, or until top is light golden brown.

Lasagna Soup

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
3 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 T. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy yum:
8 oz. ricotta or cottage cheese
1/2 c. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of freshly ground pepper
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.
Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.
To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.
Servings:  8
Source:  adapted from 300 Sensational Soups by Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds, as seen in the February-April 2011 edition of At Home with Kowalski’s magazine

Mom Smith’s Cinnamon Rolls

Combine the following ingredients:
1 can evaporate milk
1 can hot tap water
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. salt
5 eggs
1/2 cup oil

Dissolve 4 tablespoons yeast in 1 cup warm water and add to above mixture.

Add flour until it "looks right" (my mom's words...haha) I never have measured it, but today I had a 5 lb bag of flour and I used roughly half the bag.

Add raisins (as many as you want)

Let rise in bowl; roll out and spread with melted butter and cinnamon & sugar. After cinnamon rolls are on pan, let rise again.

Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes. Frost while still warm.