Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

So I made this in two parts. First on the stove and then in the crock pot because I didn't have time to let the rice cook in the crock pot. I couldn't leave it simmering on the stove while I was at church either but I wanted it done when it was time to eat. Feel free to add as much shredded turkey as you wish, or leave it out in favor of cooked lentils or white beans.

If you threw the veggies in the pot to cook with the wild rice you wouldn't have to saute them later, I just didn't think of it until after the rice was already in the crock pot.

1 1/4 c. wild rice

6 c. chicken broth

oil

1 onion

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 large carrot, diced small

1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1/2 - 3/4 c. milk, half-an-half, or cream or any combination of them

2+ c. cooked shredded turkey (or chicken, lentils, or white beans)

Simmer the wild rice and the chicken broth until the rice is just cooked enough to eat. 

Add to the crock pot and stir in the mushroom soup, dairy, and cooked turkey. In the pot you cooked the rice in heat the oil. Saute the onion, celery, and carrots until cooked, but not tender. Add to the crock pot. Cook on high for 1 - 2 hours. Taste and adjust salt or pepper (I used Mortons nature seasons)

Twice-Baked Praline Sweet Potatoes

3 large sweet potatoes

1/4 c. sweetened condensed milk

1/4 - 1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 stick butter

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

3 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

Scrub and poke the sweet potatoes with a fork all over. Microwave for 5 minutes on both sides or until cooked through. 

When cool enough to handle cut the potatoes in half and scrape put the centers leaving the skins intact. Mash the potatoes. Using a hand whisk, whisk together the mashed sweet potatoes, condensed milk, sugar, butter, spice, egg whites, and vanilla. Whisk it all really well, taste and adjust seasonings keeping in mind you want it a little sweeter than you want it to taste after it's cooked.

Spoon back into the skins. Top with the nut mix, and bake at 350 for 35 minutes until the nuts are cooked.

Nut topping:

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. pecans

Dash pie spice and cayenne pepper

Combine all together. You can replace the nuts with oats if you have some one in you family who doesn't like nuts, or half nuts half oats to suit what you have on hand.

Apple Marinated Flank Steak

1 flank steak

McCormick Steak Seasoning 

3 c. apple cider

3/4 c. oil

1/3 Worcestershire Sauce

1 beef bouillon cube

1 Tbsp granulated garlic

Dash coriander
2 - 4 drops liquid smoke (optional)

Combine the cider, oil, Worcestershire sauce, beef cube, garlic, coriander, and liquid smoke.

Sprinkle both sides of the steak generously with the steak seasoning and rub in. Place in the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for 3 - 4 hours.

Remove from the marinade, sprinkle with meat tenderizer, poke all over with a fork, and sprinkle again with the steak seasoning.

Place on a broiler pan and broil for 8 minutes, flip and broil an additional 8 minutes.

Let rest for 10 minutes, slice, and serve.

Bacon Spatzle

I saw someone mention not too long ago that they had bacon spatzle. Enough said, it had to be done. 

I would normally add sauteed onion as well but I can't stand them right now. Whole chopped or green would both be great.

I served this with a side of steamed kale drizzled with Italian salad dressing. Don't salt or season the chicken and go really light on the salt in the water when cooking the spatzle. Between the bacon and the kielbasa there is more than enough.
Look for this at Presto Pasta Nights over at Briciole this week. 

1/2 lb bacon

1 kielbasa, sliced thin

1 chicken breast, cut into tiny cubes

4 c. hot cooked spatzle

1/4 - 1/2 c. half-an-half

Saute the bacon until crisp, remove and crumble. Pour off all but 2 Tbsp of the drippings.

Add the Kielbasa to the pan and cook until browned around the edges

Push the kielbasa to the side and add the chicken, sauteing until cooked through.

Turn the heat to medium low, and add the hot spatzle and stir. Continue stirring until the juices from the pan are mixed in and the spatzle starts to take on their color.

Add the half-an-half to taste and stir in.

Top with the cooked, crumbled bacon and serve.

Port au Fino Salad

 My family isn't very big on traditional cranberry 

sauce, so we serve this every year instead.

1 (3 oz) box cranberry jello

1 (3 oz) box raspberry jello

1 c. boiling water

1 c. red grape juice

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce

1 can crushed pineapple, undrained

1 large apple, cored, peeled, and grated

3/4 c. chopped pecans

1 pkg cream cheese, softened

1 c. sour cream

Powdered sugar to taste

Place to two packages of jello in a large bowl. Add the boiling water and stir until the gelatin is dissolved. Add the whole berry sauce and stir until it is mixed in. Add the pineapple, apple, pecans, and red grape juice. Pour into a 9x13 and chill until thick but still viscous. Stir and continue to chill until set, at least 5 or 6 hours. 

Before serving mix together the cream cheese and the sour cream. Add powdered sugar to taste. I don't really like tons, just enough to make it slightly sweet and less tangy but not quite frosting. 

Spread the cream cheese mix on top of the cranberry layer and garnish with more chopped pecans.

Kalamata Olive and Caramelized Onion Bread

I have decided I need more interesting breads. 
This is the first in what I hope turns in to several 
weeks of experiment with different flavors.

4 Tbsp. Butter

2 Tbsp Oil

3 Small (or 1 large) onion, cut in half and sliced

1 Tbsp sugar

1 1/4 c. water

2 springs fresh rosemary

2 c. kalamata olives

1/4 c. brine from the olives

5 c. flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp dough enhancer (optional but highly recommended)

1 - 2 Tbsp poppy seeds

Melt the butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Sprinkle with the sugar and turn the heat to medium low. Continue cooking, on low, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden and have shrunk in size. 

In a blender combine the water and rosemary. Blend until the rosemary is chopped and let sit for 10 minutes. Add the olives and and olive brine and blend until the olives are chopped. 

Pour into the bottom of a bread maker. Add the onions. Top with the flour, salt, yeast, and dough enhancer, in the order written. 

Put on the pizza dough setting.

When the bread is done, grease a large baking tray, and shape the dough into two balls, with minimal handling. Brush the top with oil and sprinkle with the poppy seeds, and cover with a light cloth. Let rise in a warm place, until almost doubled in size.

When the bread has risen, remove the cloth and bake at 350 for 45 - 55 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes and enjoy.

Chocolate-Caramel-Bacon Bark SRC

It's the Secret Recipe Club reveal today! And as I perusing my assigned blog, Cheap Ethnic Eatz, I ran across a post entitled "Bacon Chocolate Bar". 

I knew I was done looking. 

Well not done looking, I don't think I will ever been done looking, she has tons of great looking recipes and is adding more, maybe even working on a cookbook, but I knew I had found my test recipe. I had to make two changes though. I wanted to add caramel, and I wanted the bacon to show, so that people who might not be appreciative of the flavor combination would not touch my candy.

I used dark chocolate in this recipe but I think milk would be really good too, and since the chocolate flavor isnt as strong as with dark the bacon would stand out more. With the caramel sauce you want one that is thick at room temperature so it doesn't run out of the candy when you cut it.

This was my first time baking bacon, and it turned out perfect. I just put it on a metal tray and baked at 400 for 10 - 15 minutes until crispy and then drain on a paper towel.

1 bag chocolate chips

2 - 3 Tbsp. caramel sauce

6 strips bacon, cooked until crispy and then crumbled

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. If using the microwave, only melt until most of the chips are soft and stir to melt the rest of the chocolate.

Spread half of the chocolate on wax paper into a 6 to 8 inch circle. Drizzle with the caramel sauce and stick in the freezer until the chocolate is set and the caramel is thick, about 15 minutes. I actually did that while cooking the bacon. 

When the chocolate and caramel are firm, spread the remaining chocolate on top and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon. Return to the freezer for about 15 minutes.

Remove and chop off pieces as you want to eat them, the caramel gets soft and runs out if you cut it all at once. This is good for about 2 days afterwards due to the bacon getting soggy if you leave it. 

But why would it last that long?