Good Day for Soup!

Each week during Advent I've been bringing soup to the church soup supper before service. The first week was my Italian Tortellini, last week was black bean. This week, I got a bit creative and created a pot of pierogi soup. Now, for those of you with some Eastern European heritage, your ears will perk up and you'll say "huh? pierogi soup? how do you do that?" Others will say "what the heck is a pierogi?"

A pierogi is a dumpling of sorts. The pastry crust is made with sour cream, and it usually is filled with mashed potatoes and cheese, or onions, or sauerkraut. We have a restaurant here in Phoenix -- Pittsburgh Willy's -- that makes homemade pierogi each week. Alas, I forgot to run over there before the holidays, so the frozen Mrs. T's will have to do.

Barb's Pierogi Soup
1 link polish sausage, cut in half then cut into 1/2 inch pieces
one onion, sliced
salt
3 T. butter
2 qt. chicken stock


1 t. caraway seed
one can sauerkraut, drained, rinsed and squeezed
one box Mrs. T's pierogies
1 c. sour cream

In a skillet, saute the sausage in a bit of vegetable oil until browned. Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Wipe out skillet. Melt 1 T. butter in the skillet and saute the onion, sprinkled with a bit of salt, over low heat until caramelized, about 20 minutes, stirring often. In a large Dutch oven or Crock-Pot, get the chicken stock simmering. Add in the sausage, sauerkraut, caraway seed and onions when they are done. Wipe out the skillet again, and melt 2 T. butter and saute pierogi according to package instructions, about 8 minutes (I also add about 1 T. water, and cover pierogi for about half of that cooking time to steam and brown).  To serve, put 2 pierogi in bowl, ladle soup over, serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Thirsty Thursday: Mapletini

 

 As we head into the holiday season filled with home entertaining, we thought we’d use this week’s Thirsty Thursday column to highlight a fun “fall-themed” cocktail you might consider serving as part of your Thanksgiving celebration.  The recipe was developed by Sandra Lee and is featured on Foodnetwork.com. 
Enjoy!

 

 

 

Mapletini

 

 

Ingredients

• 2 shots Irish cream liqueur
• 1 shot brandy
• 1/2 shot cinnamon schnapps
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• Ice
• Cinnamon stick, for garnish

Directions

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with cinnamon stick

Great Summer Salad: Cantaloupe Carpaccio from The Chew

As part of our food fest in Phoenix, we made a recipe Barb spotted on The Chew.  We didn’t change a thing.  It’s absolutely perfect!  Yum!


Mario Batali’s Melon Carpaccio
1 Cantaloupe or Honeydew Melon (thinly sliced)
1/4 pound Spicy Salami (julienned)
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano (shaved with a vegetable peeler)
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cups Arugula
2 Limes 

Thinly slice the melon and arrange on serving plate. (We used a cheese slicer to make the thin cantaloupe slices.) Sprinkle the salami & cheese over the melon.  Artfully arrange the arugula on top.  Finish with lime juice, olive oil and freshly cracked pepper.  (You’ll note in our photo that we placed the cheese on the top instead). 

A Peach Dessert Beyond "Just Peachy"

It's not too often that we (Barb and Sharon) have the chance to cook together in the same kitchen, but when we do, you can be sure that there will be a bounty of mouth-watering foods.  The other night was no exception (and we'll be sharing some more of the recipes we made in future blogs), but the piece de resistance had to be the original peach dessert Barb concocted.  The elements were simple, but they came together in a most amazing way!

Here's the recipe for you to try for yourself.  You won't be disappointed. 

Caramelized Peaches with Mint Mascarpone (serves 3 or 4)
4 oz. mascarpone
mint, leaves removed from two large sprigs, and chopped fine

1/2 stick butter
3 T. brown sugar
two peaches peeled and cut into eighths
1/8 cup pistachios, finely chopped

In a small bowl, combine mascarpone and mint. set aside. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add the brown sugar. Cook, stirring often until thick and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Add peaches and toss with caramel, about one minute.

Using a small dessert place (or perhaps a small bowl would be better) divide the mascarpone evenly between the dishes. Top with peaches and some of the sauce, and sprinkle with pistachios. Serve immediately.

Summer Entertaining: Delish But Simple Toothpick Bites

Summer is a perfect time to entertain -- friends, food and cocktails on the back patio or around the pool. But, in the heat of the summer, who wants to spend time in a hot kitchen cooking and baking?  Our friends at the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board have developed 50 cheese-based treats on toothpicks that are easy to assemble, pretty to look at and tasty to eat. Fill a platter with a few of these, mix up a pitcher of refreshing cocktails and you're set for a party -- without breaking a sweat.

Easter Brunch: What to Bring if the Party is Not at Your House

We all know that Sharon is the hostess with the mostest. But, some of us (okay, me) aren't crazy about the decorating, flower arranging, etc. We just like to cook and bake and feed people. So, when my buddy Marcia and her family invited us to Easter lunch (it's becoming a tradition I think), I was excited. I didn't have to dream up a main course, or a dessert -- I just had to come up with two yummy sides to go with the grilled salmon.  So, Easter Sunday you'll find me happily whipping up this casserole and tossing this salad and leisurely working my way to Marcia's to enjoy all the fabulous effort she put into the rest of the decorating and food. I love being friends with entertainers!

Cheesy Potatoes 

(big thanks to Gail Klandrud at Mountain View Lutheran Church in Phoenix for this outstanding recipe)

2 lbs. frozen hash browns

1 16 oz. container sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 oz. shredded cheddar

Small bag potato chips

One stick butter

Grease a 9 x 13 pan.  Mix ingredients, place in pan and cover with crumbled potato chips.  Slice one stick of butter and place on top.  Bake at 375 for one hour.

Apple-Pear Salad with Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing 

(thanks to Southern Living Magazine for the base recipe that we tweaked a bit.

• 1 (16-oz.) baby spinach, thoroughly washed
• 1 (6-oz.) block Parmesan cheese, shaved
• 1 cup roasted, salted cashews
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
• 1 large apple, thinly sliced (Honeycrisps would be outstanding if available)
• 1 large pear, thinly sliced
• Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing (see below) 
• Toss together first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; serve with Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing.

courtesy of Southern Living.

Photo: Beth Dreiling; Styling: Tyler Asbury

• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
•  Process vegetable oil, sugar, fresh lemon juice, poppy seeds, finely chopped onion, Dijon mustard, and salt in a blender until smooth. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week; serve at room temperature.

A Bit of Blarney is Good for Everyone!

St. Patty's day is just around the corner.  Being half Irish, I'm proud to celebrate with some good old corned beef and cabbage (paired, of course, with a bit of horseradish, don't you know).  For most of my life, I'd never tried this traditional dish.  My dad, the full-blooded Irishman (Lawrence Michael Patrick Connors), doesn't particularly care for the dish, so my full-blooded German mother never felt the need to serve it.  But my sister Susan decided years ago to start a tradition with her family, that gradually evolved into an annual feast for us sisters and our families.  My mouth is already starting to water just thinking about next Saturday's meal!

 

If you've never tackled making corned beef & cabbage, yourself, give it a go.  It's an easy and inexpensive dish to make.  Here's a good basic recipe from allrecipes.com to get you started. We've never used carrots like this recipe calls for, but it might be a nice addition.  -- from Sharon


Barb's notes: My family grew up on corned beef and cabbage, not because we were Irish (we thought we were a bit Irish until genealogy study a few years ago proved we were Dutch), but because it was a cheap way to feed our family of five. Mom and Dad would stock up on all those after-St. Patrick's Day briskets for sale at the store, and put them in the deep-freeze. Dad would then pull one out, place it in the Crock Pot with some beer, and we'd have a whole roast for dinner that night.


To this day, I stock up on the after-holiday briskets as well. Last year I got them for 49 cents a pound!  I stuffed my freezer with them and cook them up on occasion to make a traditional dinner like the one above, or for lunch meat, or corned beef hash. 


Of course, a corned beef dinner is not complete without a Guinness or Harp beer.