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Creamy Corn Chowder

February 17, 2010 by Allie

This Creamy Corn Chowder recipe is so good during cold weather. It’s hearty and filling…even my kids love it! If you’ve never had corn chowder before, then you definitely need to try this recipe.

creamy corn chowder

If you are sensitive to dairy products, you could substitute plain rice or soy milk and imitation sour cream instead of the heavy whipping cream and milk. Add a bit of cornstarch or flour to thicken this recipe. For a lower fat version, omit the bacon fat and use low fat or skim milk for both the milk and heavy whipping cream. You could also use low fat or fat free sour cream. But where’s the fun in that?

Creamy Corn Chowder

Ingredients

6 slices of bacon, cooked medium crispy (reserve bacon fat)
6 medium potatoes, diced into bite size pieces
3 cups milk
2 celery stalks, sliced
4 cups whole corn kernels
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp paprika
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp onion powder or 1/2 small onion minced
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mince the cooked bacon. In a large pot set to medium high or a large crockpot set to your preferred temperature, add all the ingredients and stir well to mix. Stir occasionally (unless using a crockpot) until the potatoes are tender. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until there are only small chunks left. Continue cooking for twenty minutes (slightly longer if using a crockpot). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in medium bowls with saltine crackers. Makes eight to ten servings.

Filed Under: Real Food, Soups and Salads Tagged With: chowder, corn, corn chowder, corn chowder recipe, corn recipe, cream, creamed corn, creamy corn, dinner, family food, lunch, soup, yummy

Italian Havarti Sandwiches

January 27, 2010 by Allie

Besides Tex-Mex, Italian flavors has to be my favorite ingredients to experiment with. Recently, I have been looking for healthier and lighter meals, but also something that my three young children would eat, so naturally I thought of enriched breads, thinly sliced cheeses, olive oil, spices, and fresh, ripe tomatoes.

I took inspiration from a recent meal at an herbal tea shop/restaurant. I wanted to recreate my favorite dish and drink into something that I could make on an everyday basis if I so desired. The end result is an open ended sandwich. Here’s what I came up with:

Italian Havarti Sandwiches

8 slices of your favorite sandwich bread (wheat, white, et cetera), crusts removed
3 roma tomatoes, sliced thinly
8 slices of Havarti cheese, sliced in half
1/4 cup olive oil (I like to use extra virgin, because it is the least processed)
6 inch sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped finely
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Mix together olive oil, finely chopped rosemary, garlic salt, oregano, and black pepper. Using a butter knife, spread evenly onto one side of each slice of bread (if you have extra oil, you can use it to drizzle over the tops of the finished sandwiches).

On one slice of oiled bread, lay one slice of tomato in a corner, followed by a slice of Havarti cheese, another slice of tomato, and then one last slice of cheese. Carefully place onto serving tray. Repeat this process for all the slices of bread.

Drizzle with any leftover herbed olive oil mixture. Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered.

*If you’d like to serve this as an appetizer, slice bread in half for smaller portions.

Filed Under: 30 Minutes Meals or Less, Real Food, Soups and Salads

Turtato Soup

January 25, 2010 by Allie


For some reason turnips are intimidating to me. They sit there, purple and white, daring me to make something out of them that children won’t instinctively run screaming from. And yet they cook almost exactly like potatoes. So with a hand full of russets and a pound of turnips I set to work.

Turtato soup has a great earthy, sweet, starchy flavor that’s just right for a cold evening. This recipe breaks down into the roasted and the liquid.

The Roasted:
Three medium russet potatoes. 1.5 lbs yukon gold or red roasting potatoes would be creamier but I like the starchy flavor of the russets for this.
One pound of turnips, they typically come in 1 lb bags.
1/2 lb of carrots
1/2 large white onion minced
1 tsp of Rosemary
2-3 Tbsp of olive oil, regular, not extra virgin
1-2 tsp of salt
6-8 cloves of garlic, if you can, get roasted cloves or set a head of garlic in a small ramekin with a generous amount of olive oil to roast the cloves next to the vegetables. I happen to roast up a lot of cloves once or twice a year and keep them in the freezer.

Chop all of the vegetables into a one inch dice toss in kosher salt, rosemary, and coat lightly with the olive oil. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until everything squishes with a pair of tongs and is browned around the edges. Set aside.

The Liquid:
You’ll need about six cups of liquid for pureeing the vegetables. I used four cups of chicken broth and two cups of beef broth. You could go all vegetable broth as well but I wanted some beef flavor to punch up the turnips and bring out the roasted flavors.

Assembly:
Take 1/3 of the roasted veggies, make sure you’ve added the garlic, and place in your food processor. Add 2 cups of broth and puree until there are just a few small chunks of carrot still visible. I like a little texture. Pour into a big soup pot. Repeat for the other 2/3. Once all the soup is in the soup pot, add about 3/4 cup of cream and 1/2 pound of cubed ham, the smaller the cube the better. Grind in about a teaspoon of black pepper. Put on the oven over medium heat until heated through.

Toast up some french bread and top with cheddar and a dollop of sour cream. You’ll have a soul soothing soup full of veggies that even your kids will eat.

Recipe by TJ Gilmore

Filed Under: Real Food, Soups and Salads

Vino Chili

January 11, 2010 by Allie

We had our annual Chili dinner for the Cub Scouts, and of course my camera gave me fits. What you see, inelegantly displayed to the left is Vino Chili. A tasty chili that will work with beef but is best made with game meats or lamb. In this case, 2 pounds of ground venison.

For those of you with an aversion to game, chili is a great way to eat the meat your hunter neighbor hands you. It can easily perk up these great lean meats, and the flavors of chili work with the ‘game’ flavor to provide a smoother taste. If you don’t have access to game meats, go with lean beef or lamb.

This recipe comes in two parts- Dry and Wet.

The Dry:

Cook 2 pounds of venison (cubed or ground, mine was a chunky grind) in 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil until browned. Do it in a big pan or in small batches, you want the meat browned, not just boiled in its own juice. Add 4 garlic cloves (minced) for a smokier flavor use roasted garlic. Add two medium onions to the meat and saute them until translucent. This is your base, throw it in your crock pot or a large pot.

The Wet – added to the dry:

Two cans of diced tomatoes. You could also coarsly chop four large tomatoes. For a thicker chili, drain the cans but don’t smash the chopped tomatoes (I used all the juice). Next is 3 Tbsp. chili powder, don’t be fooled! It needs to be pure chili powder, not a mix of spices. There are tons of boxes at the store that say ‘chili powder’ and they’re full of garlic, salt, and other spices which, while tasty, will throw your recipe completely off. Add 1/2 Tbsp. ground black pepper, 1 Tsp. kosher salt, 1 Tbsp. basil, and 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin.

Now for the secret ingredients: 2 Tbsp. molasses and 2 cups red wine, which leaves two nice glasses of wine to share with dinner. The sugar helps bring down the acid of the tomatoes while the red wine works with the cumin to break down the game flavor of the meat and gives a rich hint of almost floral sweetness with the basil. At this point, if you like a thinner chili, add a cup of water, otherwise, let it simmer for 2 hours. As for the wine? I used a $3 bottle of Shiraz from Wally World. I wouldn’t go much lighter than a shiraz as it would make things too sweet. Deeper wines like cabernet and merlot would bring a deeper note that would emphasize the meat a bit more.

Now I know chili has many different rules. For me, beans are persona non grata, however, 2 cups of pintos would stretch your dollar and add a bit more heft. You could also go for a diced bell pepper, or even add a pint of minced portabellos for a beefy substitute or even go all out and make a vegetarian chili with em.

Hopefully this recipe will get you to explore some different ingredients that have become mainstays in my cupboard, especially molasses and red wine!

Recipe by TJ Gilmore

Filed Under: Real Food, Soups and Salads

Apple Bacon Ranch Salad

July 14, 2009 by Allie 1 Comment

I have been blessed with children that are not too picky in what they choose to eat. Occasionally, they refuse to eat a vegetable or try a new sauce, and that’s when I pop open the ramen noodles and hot dogs. One food item that my children love to eat is bacon. Since I love bacon much also and like to save the fat in mason jars for cooking stir-fries, eggs, and other meals, I always keep bacon on hand in my fridge (or ice chest as we Texans like to call it) on my kitchen counter.

Sometimes though, I just want a meal that is not too heavy, somewhat healthy, and that even the kids will eat without complaining. Most of all, I just want something easy–life just get busy! That’s when I make my Apple Bacon Ranch Salad. Enjoy!


Apple Bacon Ranch Salad

12 slices of bacon, cooked medium (well enough to chop easily with a knife)
2 apples, your favorite variety, cubed
4 medium sized carrots, chopped, sliced, julienned, or grated
1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped
2 T ranch dressing

Chop bacon into small pieces.

Cube apples. Follow these instructions for cubing an apple quickly.

Chop carrots. I love my Pampered Chef food chopper (no, Pampered Chef did not pay me to say that).

Throw all ingredients into a large bowl and add romaine lettuce.

Pour ranch dressing on top.

Using salad tossers (or clean hands) mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Serve as a side salad or as a meal. Serves eight as a side salad.

Filed Under: Real Food, Soups and Salads

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