Melanie's Bean Soup

A little while ago I mentioned in a post that I had recently made my first batch of Bean Soup for the fall. I had intended to post the recipe shortly thereafter, but suddenly it's past Thanksgiving and I still haven't posted it! So without further ado here is the recipe.

2 cups dry beans, soaked overnight or quick soaked (I use a blend of 5 or 6 of my favorite beans; you can also buy bean soup mix on the bean/rice aisle in the grocery -- just throw out the seasoning packet!)
2 quarts broth (I usually use chicken or vegetable, but you could use water and bouillon cubes in a pinch!)
1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons dried onion OR 1/3 cup chopped onion sauteed in a little oil or butter
8-10 oz. ham, chopped or shredded (this can be leftovers, canned ham or deli ham)

Drain beans from overnight soak. Place all ingredients in dutch oven or slow cooker. If using a dutch oven, bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for at least 2 hours. Check periodically to make sure the liquid level is good. Add water or broth if needed. Check bean tenderness to make sure soup is ready.

If using a slow cooker, follow manufacturers instructions. In my 6-qt. slow cooker I usually set it on low and let it cook all day (8-5).

Garnish with cheese and serve with cornbread or muffins.

Serves 6-8 the way we eat it. You might get more or less depending on how much people like it!

Happy Eating!

Milk Salad

My mother created this recipe over 40 years ago. It is her "signature" dish. It appears on her table in one form or another for every major and some minor holidays. Any fruit will work -- blueberries, strawberries, peaches, bananas, etc. Just don't try raw pineapple or kiwi -- they interact with the gelatin and it won't set up. For some reason, men in particular love this salad. My son will only eat it with the mandarin oranges.

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
dash salt
1 1/4 cups milk
8 oz. Cool Whip
fruit (we always use mandarin oranges 2 - 11 oz. cans thoroughly drained. You can do strawberries, blueberries or bananas as well.)

Measure water in pyrex measuring cup and place measuring cup in sauce of water on stove. Sprinkle gelatin over water in measuring cup and stir with fork. Heat saucepan on medium heat and stir gelatin until melted and clear. Blend together cream cheese, sugar, salt and extract. Once smooth, add milk and dissolved gelatin alternately while beating with mixer. Chill this mixture until slightly thickened (3-5 min) and fold in thawed Cool Whip and fruit. Spoon into 1 3/4 qt mold or 9x9 pyrex dish. Chill until firm. (This is half of what Mother usually makes, so double it if you want it to look like hers and feed a crowd!)

Happy Eating!

Ham & Cheese Muffins

The other night I decided it was time for the first batch of Bean Soup. This is a recipe I created years ago, that has become a winter staple around here. I usually make cornbread to go along with it, but I had been flipping through cookbooks, and ran across this recipe. I decided to branch out and try these with the soup. I think they are a nice alternative. They would also go well with beans and rice or even a big salad. Enjoy! 

1 cup cornmeal (I prefer yellow)

1 cup unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon baking powder

2 large eggs

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 cup milk (I used fat free)

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used Grey Poupon Country French)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated (I used the Mexican blend)

1/2 cup shredded ham (I used Boar's Head Black Forest Ham -- about 4 oz. run through the food processor)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Mix dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix wet ingredients including cheese. Combine dry and wet until just moistened. Fold in ham. Fill muffin tins 2/3rds full. Bake for 15-20 minutes. 12-18 muffins.

The original recipe said 10-12 muffins and to bake for 20 minutes. I got 18 muffins, and I think they should have baked more like 15-18 minutes, but it probably depends on your oven.

Happy Eating!

It's Officially Autumn!

Around my house, it's not officially autumn until pumpkin bread is baked. Well this week I baked pumpkin bread. I've been making this recipe since I was about 12 or 13 years old. I love it! The flavors and texture are just what I want in a sweet bread. Now I am a purest where pumpkin bread is concerned -- no nuts, no raisins, and certainly no chocolate chips! The point of pumpkin bread bread is the PUMPKIN and the SPICES. Nothing else should interfere with these flavors. So's here's my recipe. My kids demand mini loaves now, but when they were little they were all about the mini muffins. If you make full size loaves, cut them in half long ways to serve in smaller slices (this is accepted way to serve THIS bread! LOL!) Warning: We can knock back one whole loaf straight out of the oven!

Pumpkin Bread

4 eggs                                                       

3 cups sugar                                            

1 cup oil                                                    

½ cup water                                            

2 cups canned pumpkin

2 t. baking soda

1 ½ t. cinnamon

1 ½ t. nutmeg

1 ½ t. salt           

3 ½ cups flour

Spray 3 loaf pans or 5-6 mini-loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat eggs in large in large mixing bowl with electric mixer until light. Add sugar gradually, beating all the time. Add oil, water and pumpkin. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Divide batter among loaf pans, filling each 2/3 full. Bake on middle rack of oven for 45 minutes. Check for doneness by sticking a toothpick in the center. If not done, bake up to 15 additional minutes checking every 3-5 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Wrap in foil and store in refrigerator. May be frozen. Yield: 3 standard loaves; 5-6 mini-loaves.

(This is the remaining loaf of the SIX I made on Wednesday)

My Favorite Chicken Marinade

I've been looking for this recipe for the last couple of weeks and finally found it! I've had it for years and it is my go to marinade because I always have the ingredients on hand, and it taste marvelous on chicken or pork.


Tonight I marinated chicken tenderloins and grilled them. Our side dish was Amish tomato basil noodles with sauteed spinach, grape tomatoes and garlic topped with Parmesan cheese. Tasty and lovely!


Chicken Marinade


4 Tablespoons canola oil
4 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon basil
3 whole cloves
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
dash of coarse ground black pepper


Mix all ingredients together and pour over 1 pound chicken (breasts, tenderloins, pieces -- whatever!). Marinate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. Grill or bake chicken. Serves 4.


Happy eating!

Long Time No Cook

Things have been a bit hectic around here lately. Pleasure travel, business travel, renovations, and now suddenly it's back to school! Cooking has been in short supply. There have been lots of salads and sandwiches, and quite a few egg based dinners. 


Today I pulled out some ground chuck to grill for hamburgers, and realized it had gone bad! I hate that! Plan B -- I had some chicken tenderloins in the freezer so I pulled them out and began to hunt for my favorite quick and easy marinade recipe. I couldn't find it anywhere! This has been my standby marinade for years. It's quick, easy, I always have the ingredients on hand and it's absolutely delicious. How could I have lost it?


Since I couldn't remember the exact marinade, I Googled chicken marinades and came up with one that looked pretty good, but of course I didn't have all the ingredients. Necessity being the mother of invention, I took that recipe and ran with it. Here's the result and it must have been a hit, as I have one lone tenderloin left!

Marinade:
1/2 cup Worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup red wine (I used cooking wine)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic with parsley
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper


Marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes. Preheat grill. Grill chicken on med-high for 3-4 minutes per side. I used this on 1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenderloins and fed 4 people. Quite tasty, if I do say so myself!


Happy Eating!

Blueberry Crumble Cake

So last week was a flurry of entertaining. It all went well, some better than others. For Tuesday night's dessert I made this Blueberry Crumble Cake. It was quite tasty, even if I did bake in an 8-inch cake pan when the recipe clearly called for a 9-inch! Oh well. My only complaint as I mentioned last week was that the blueberries settled to the bottom. It didn't effect the taste, but the presentation was a little off. See what you think.

Blueberry Crumble Cake
2/3 cups raw sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 cup blueberries
3 Tablespoons demerara sugar
3 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch cake pan with organic cooking spray; line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Coat paper with spray.

Beat 2/3 cups sugar and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed of mixer for about 5 minutes. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. In a separate bowl, combine flour through salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternating with buttermilk, begin and end with flour. Stir in blueberries by hand.

Pour into cake pan. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Mix until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over the top of cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Serves 8

Happy Eating!