Chicken Soup with Rice

The kids love to go to story time at the Library and a while ago, the Librarian read a book called Chicken Soup with Rice. The kids have of course been asking for chicken soup with rice ever since. I finally made it and they gobbled it right up!

Chicken Soup with Rice

-1 large chicken breast
-1 C onions, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 C celery, diced
-2 C carrots, diced
-1 tsp dried parsley
-3 C chicken broth
-1 C rice
-salt and pepper to taste

-in a soup pot place the rice in the chicken broth and bring to a boil
-dice the chicken breast and in a separate frying pan, brown the chicken with the onions, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.
-dump everything into the soup pot with the rice and add the celery and carrots.
-simmer over medium heat until the rice and vegetables are cooked through. Add more water or chicken broth if you'd like more liquid in your soup. 

Cornmeal Muffins

This is one of my first recipes that I made up and the experience then snowballed into me making up a lot of recipes. This one took a few months to get just the way we wanted it  Buttery, moist, and they don't fall apart when you take off the muffin liner. They are pretty darn tasty, especially on the side of baked beans and pulled BBQ pork!

Cornmeal Muffins

-1 C butter (room temp)
-1 1/4 C sugar
-3/4 tsp salt
-2 eggs (room temp)
-1 1/2 C corn meal
-1 1/4 C buttermilk
-1 tsp baking powder
-2 C flour

-Cream butter, sugar and salt until light in color and fluffy in texture
-add eggs, fully incorporating one at a time
-add cornmeal and mix thoroughly
-sift together baking powder and flour together in a separate bowl
-starting with the flour mixture add it alternatively with the buttermilk to the batter, mixing only until just combined between each addition. (ie add a little flour, mix until just combined, a little buttermilk mix until just combined, a little more flour, mix, a little more buttermilk, etc until everything is mixed together)
-drop into lined muffin tins

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until done

Bran Muffins

These muffins are the only muffin I would say it's actually okay to use whole wheat flour instead of white flour, as the texture is already masked by the bran. They are very moist, and are best fresh out of the oven or heated in the microwave with a little butter melting on top.

Bran Muffins

-1 C butter (room temperature)
-1 C sugar
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 eggs (room temperature)
-2 C wheat bran (NOT the cereal)
-1 C boiling water
-1 C boiled raisins
-1 1/2 C buttermilk
-2 C whole wheat flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda

-mix the buttermilk with the bran and let set
-boil raisins with 1 1/2 to 2 C of water (I like to use 1 C of the boiled raisin water in the recipe instead of just plain boiled water to add some flavor)
-mix in the C of boiling water to the buttermilk/bran mixture and continue to let set
-in a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until the mixture is light in color and fluffy in texture
-add eggs, thoroughly mixing in one at a time.
-sift together the flour with the baking powder and baking soda
-add the flour and bran mixture to the batter alternatively. Start with flour, mix just until combined, add bran/buttermilk, mix until just combined, flour, mix, bran, mix etc until everything is combined.
-fold in raisins
-drop batter into lined muffin tins.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15- 20 minutes

Poutine

For those of you who have not been fortunate enough to have heard of the delight of poutine, let me enlighten you; it's a delicious dish, originating from Canada, consisting of french fries, cheese curds, and topped with gravy. Since I live in America, where you can't just stop by your local fast food restaurant and grab a poutine, I have to make my own.

How to make Poutine

-French fries
-Cheese ("real" poutine is topped with cheese curds, but I like my cheese to melt, so I shred my cheese instead of using cheese curds. Since, in my opinion, the best poutine is made with gouda cheese, we use that. But really, you can use any cheese you prefer.)
-Brown gravy 

Okay, so this recipe is pretty simple, grab some french fries, top it with cheese and then pour on some gravy and pig out.
Below I am going to include how I made the best darn poutine ever.

Poutine

French Fries
-4 or 5 medium potatoes
-1/2 C panko crumbs
-1/2 C flour
-1 tsp seasoned salt
-1/4 tsp onion powder
-1/4 tsp garlic powder
-1/4 tsp pepper
-enough oil to fill a frying pan/pot with oil for frying the french fries. (you'll need a deep enough pan to fully submerge your potatoes)

Cheese
-1 to 2 C shredded Gouda cheese

Gravy
-1 C beef broth
-1/2 C water (or 1/4 C water and 1/4 C milk for creamier gravy)
-3 Tbsp flour
-salt and pepper to taste

French Fries
-peel and slice the potatoes into strips resembling french fries. Slice them as thin or thick as you'd like, depending on personal preference. Place in a large bowl
-In a separate bowl, mix the panko, flour and seasonings
-Coat the potatoes evenly in the seasoned mix (this makes the fries more crispy so they don't get soggy under the gravy as fast as just regular fries)
-fry the potatoes until golden brown in heated oil over medium to medium-high heat
-remove finished fries and place on a paper towel lined plate or in a strainer to drain off excess oil

Gravy
-heat the beef broth until boiling
-meanwhile, whisk the water with the flour until there are no lumps
-whisk in the flour mixture into the beef broth, stirring constantly to avoid lumps
-cook until thickened, stirring occasionally until the flour has cooked thoroughly 

Place fries in a bowl, add as little or as much cheese as you'd like. Top with desired amount of gravy. ENJOY!  

Green Bean Casserole

This is a delicious spin on the classic green bean casserole that is so popular around the holidays.

Green Bean Casserole

-1 C mushroom soup (I use THIS recipe if using from a can, use 1/2 C soup + 1/2 C milk)
-4 oz Cream Cheese
-1 C sour cream
-1 C grated cheddar cheese
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-cooked bacon, broken into pieces (amount depends on personal preference)
-1 can French's Crispy Fried Onions
-4 C green beans, cooked (fresh, frozen, or canned)

-Mix the soup, cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add in about half of the cheese, bacon and 1/2 C of the fried onions and mix.
-fold in the green beans, evening coating
-dish out into a casserole pan and top with remaining cheese, bacon and fried onions.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes

Chocolate Pie

This pie was an experiment for Thanksgiving. I have never liked the idea of chocolate pie being just a box of cooked chocolate pudding poured into a pie crust. It just doesn't sound appealing to me at all. So when my husband requested a chocolate pie for Thanksgiving dessert, I decided to try using chocolate custard instead. It turned out AMAZING. If you are a fan of chocolate pie, this recipe is a must! It has 3 layers of chocolate, and it is silky smooth and divine!

Chocolate Pie

-3/4 C whole milk
-3/4 C  heavy cream
-3 Tbsp corn starch
-4 egg yolks
-2 tsp vanilla
-2 C milk chocolate chocolate chips
-1/4 C heavy cream
-Cooked pie shell (AMAZING recipe for pie dough found HERE)

-whisk egg yolks together with vanilla in a bowl and set aside.
-in a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and add the 1/4 C of heavy cream and mix until smooth. Set aside.
--in a saucepan, combine milk, cream, and corn starch, whisking until smooth.
-over medium heat, stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture thickens. Cook 3-5 minutes stirring constantly until the starch has cooked. (take a taste if you are unsure if the mixture isn't thoroughly cooked)
-remove from heat and add a little of the milk/cornstarch mixture to the egg yolks and whisk. Add a little more and whisk again. Keep whisking in the thickened mixture to the eggs a little at a time until it has all been mixed together.
-Return everything to the saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, do not let the mixture boil.
-Remove from heat and whisk in the chocolate/cream mixture. Mix until smooth.
-Pour into pie shell and let set until it cools.

-1/2 C milk chocolate chocolate chips
-1/2 C heavy cream

-Melt chocolate with cream and then spread about HALF of the ganache over top of the pie.

-1/2 C heavy whipping cream
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 tbsp sugar
-remaining ganache

-Whisk cream with vanilla and sugar in a mixer on high until whipped cream forms soft peaks. Add ganache and mix thoroughly until combined.
-Spread or pipe over the ganache layer of the pie.

-optional, drizzle melted chocolate over whipped cream layer.

refrigerate 1-2 hours 

Back to Blogging

It's been a few months since I've regularly blogged. Autumn is a busy time at our house, playing outside in the awesome weather, making stuff to fill the freezer, and we were also able spent a few weeks in Canada, so it's just been a bit too busy for me to blog lately. I've been catching up and recently posted a few recipes today, and hope to spit out one or two great recipes a week for everyone to try and enjoy. We'll see how I do with the holidays approaching...so don't hold me to it too tight! I'll do the best I can. In the meantime, feel free to try a new recipe! And if you have any recipes that you enjoy and would love to share on my blog, email me at cakesncandies13@gmail.com so we can share the greatness that comes of cooking and baking with everyone!