Quick and Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

This summer has been one of business travel, the most since the summer of 2006 which we really don't speak of much because there was just that much travel and it's all sort of a blur. As an "I'm sorry I've left you alone so much this summer" present I received several pieces of Le Creuset cookware from Hubby.

Beautiful!!

I decided to test out the dutch (French) oven on a quick batch of soup and decided to combine a few of my favorite things from both my Taco Soup recipe and my Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe because, well it was a rainy Saturday night and the idea of soup and a grilled cheese sounded pretty perfect.

Quick and Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can diced green chilies, drained

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 package of Taco Seasoning

1 can condensed Tomato Soup

1 cup frozen corn

~3 cups water/chicken stock

1. In a soup pot heat some oil and saute onion and garlic until translucent.
2. Add in chicken and Taco Seasoning and stir until well combined.
3. Add in the other ingredients (I just filled up my tomato soup can 4 times for the water at the end and that looked pretty good to me...we like a more chunky soup or stew-like consistency around here, but you can totally thin it out if you want).
4. Heat for 15-20 minutes and serve (you can always leave it on the stove for longer...it only becomes more delicious!)
5. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese, and broken bits of tortilla chips on top.

Red, White and Blue Scones

I have been wanting to try a scone recipe and when I had some blueberries and strawberries that were not going to get eaten I thought I would test out one I found this summer from Two Peas & Their Pod. I made a few adaptations, and must say the results were delicious. I have officially decided that I need a pastry cutter as my hands get warm way too fast to be able to properly incorporate the butter (so I had to chill the dough for a little bit before rolling it out). Even so I think I will be coming back to this recipe in the future!

Red, White, and Blue Scones

Adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod

2 cups flour

2 Tbsp light brown sugar, packed

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

5 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small chunks

1/2 cup fresh strawberries, diced

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

3/4 cup whole milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

6 oz white chocolate chips or melting chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 400 and prepare a couple of baking sheets*.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the butter and using a pastry cutter, or your fingers, mix until crumbly.
4. Stir in the berries.
5. In a small bowl combine the wet ingredients, then add to the large bowl stirring gently until the dough comes together.
6. Knead with your hands (you may need to put the dough into the fridge for a little bit if it is too sticky to work with at the time) until it is well combined and then turn out onto a floured surface.
7. Roll out dough and cut into desired shape(s) then place on the baking sheets.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Cool completely then use melted white chocolate to create a drizzle on top.

*Sometimes this happens to my baking mats...this is not the proper way to prepare baking sheets for baking scones...just in case you weren't sure.

Beef Brisket

One of my items on my 30 by 30 To Do List was a beef brisket. We haven't been able to smoke brisket successfully (yet, we've only really tried once -- too dry) but it is something I love if done correctly (and served chopped rather than just sliced). I knew Hubby was having a rough series of meetings starting today so I decided it was as good of a day as any for my first oven brisket attempt.

The results were delicious and I'm not planning on doing anything differently next time this bad boy makes an appearance on the menu. Number 9 is off the list!

Beef Brisket

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Serves 4

2.5 lb beef brisket

2 Tbsp Grill Mates Smokehouse Maple Seasoning

1 packet dried onion soup mix

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1. Grease a casserole dish and trim fat off the of brisket.
2. Dry rub the brisket using the seasoning and 1 Tbsp of brown sugar.
3. In a small bowl combine the onion soup mix, ketchup, water, Worcestershire, and 1 Tbsp of brown sugar.
4. Pour the sauce over the brisket and cover the casserole with foil. Refrigerate until you are ready to bake (2 hours to overnight...can't go wrong!)
5. When you are ready, bake the covered dish at 275 (you can go ahead and throw it in while the oven is preheating, no big deal).
6. Cook for about 3 hours then uncover and turn the meat over. Recover and bake for another 2-3 hours.
7. The brisket should easily fall apart when done. Remove from the dish and slice, against the grain. Return to the pan with the sauce to serve.

Strawberry Mini Muffins

A girls weekend away requires mini muffins. No arguments about that from this peanut gallery. I believe these will do the trick ;-)

Happy Birthday Tessa =)

Strawberry Mini Muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Zest and juice from one lemon
1 1/4 cup chopped strawberries

Crumb Topping

1/3 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chilled butter, diced
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tin (or line with paper liners)
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
4. Add in milk, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and zest until combined.
5. Stir in the flour mixture until combined, then fold in the strawberries.
6. In a small food processor combine all the crumb topping ingredients and pulse until the mixture has a coarse crumb texture.
7. Fill the muffin tins a little more than 1/2 full of batter then sprinkle on crumb topping (in total should not be more than 3/4 full) and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

These turned out a bit more moist than I had intended, and the "crumb" topping was more like a cobbler or crisp topping rather than super "crumbly"...there were no complaints from the girls though, so I'm going to say this was a win ;-)

Smokey Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

As a result of some poor planning on my part I had quite the assortment of leftover ingredients from recipes that never came to fruition. One thing led to another and Smokey Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese was born.

Smokey Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

12 oz small pasta (mini penne was my choice)

3-4 oz. bacon, cooked and chopped

1 small box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp flour

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 c milk (I did a skim and whole combo)

4 oz Fontina cheese, grated

4 oz smoked Gouda cheese, grated

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Pinch cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Using a large pot, boil the noodles according to the package instructions for al dente. Strain and set a side reserving pot for later.
3. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat.
4. Whisk in flour and garlic and cook until golden brown, stirring constantly. (A spatula works just fine as I still haven't replaced my silicone whisk so this is my bechamel go-to at the moment.)
5. Add in milk and continue stirring over medium-high heat until the sauce thickens and bubbles begin to form.
6. Remove from the heat and add in your spices, bacon, and cheeses stirring until melted.
7. In the large pot, combine the noodles, broccoli, and cheese mixture then pour into a greased casserole dish (I used a 2 1/2 quart round dish).
8. Sprinkle with extra grated cheese (optional) and bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Bacon Breadstick Focaccia

So this weekend I co-hosted a baby shower where the menu followed a theme.

BACON

The menu was comprised of:

Bacon and Cheese Dip

Bacon Breadstick Focaccia

Spinach Salad with Crumbled Backon

Cauliflower Soup with Bacon Garnish

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

Does that not sound AMAZING?!

It was, just take my word for it.

Bacon Breadstick Focaccia

Adapted from Pillsbury.com

Makes 2 Small Focaccia*

1 can of refrigerated breadstick dough

2.1 oz package of precooked bacon slices

2 pieces of string cheese (4 if you want both focaccia to have cheese)

1 egg

Garlic Salt, to taste

Italian Seasoning, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and prepare a baking sheet (your choice: parchment, baking mat, cooking spray, etc.)
2. Slice the cheese into quarters long ways to make 8 longs strips.
3. Unroll the breadsticks and layer each with a piece of cheese (for half of the breadsticks) and a piece of bacon.
4. Roll the breadstick/bacon combo into two pinwheels, one with cheese and one without.
5. Beat one egg and brush over the top of the bread.
6. Dice the extra slices of bacon (if you haven't eaten them already) and sprinkle over the top along with the garlic salt and Italian seasoning.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

*I have done one big pinwheel and two small ones and the two small ones seems to turn out better.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

While on business travel in England my husband has discovered an amazing dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding. Apparently he has ordered it all over the country for practically every meal. For his birthday last night I decided to see if I could figure out how to make Sticky Toffee Pudding here at home and the results were amazing. This dessert is no joke and I can see why he calls it "the best thing about England".

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Adapted from FoodNetwork

Serves 4-6

Cake

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup pitted dates, finely chopped

1 1/4 cup boiling water

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Sauce

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a square baking dish.
2. Place the chopped dates into a small bowl with the baking soda and then pour in the boiling water. Stir and set aside.
3. Beat together butter and sugar with a stand mixer, then add in egg and vanilla.
4. Slowly mix in flour, baking powder, and salt until combined.
5. Fold in the date mixture into the batter until combined (it will be really wet/runny).
6. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top of the pudding cake is set.
7. Remove cake from oven while you make the sauce.
8. In a small sauce pan combine the sugar, butter, and heavy cream.
9. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
10. Boil on medium low for 8-10 minutes (still stirring constantly) or until the sauce thickens.
11. Take 2/3 cup of the sauce and pour directly onto the cake.
12. Broil the cake until bubbly (1-2 minutes).
13. Serve with vanilla ice cream and drizzle toffee sauce on top.

Do it, you won't regret a single moment.