Potato and Corn Chowder

This recipe is adopted from Pioneer Woman’s Corn Chowder. I have made hers and it is good, but after tasting a friend’s at the football game last night that had potatoes and chicken, I decided to come up with my own!

Ingredients

3 slices Bacon, Cut Into 1/2-inch Pieces (or Smaller)

2 Tablespoons Butter

1 Yellow Onion, Diced

2 Bags of Frozen Corn (about 4 cups)

1-2 whole Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce, Finely Diced

1-2 Chicken Breasts Boiled & Shredded

1-2 potatoes diced to roughly the same size

1 whole 4-ounce Can Diced Green Chilies

32 ounces, fluid Chicken Broth

1-1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt (more To Taste)

3 Tablespoons Corn Meal

1/4 cup Water

Instructions

Add bacon pieces to a pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Cook for a couple of minutes. Throw in diced onion and stir, cooking the onion for 3 to 4 minutes. Add butter and melt. Add corn. Stir and cook for one minute. Add both kinds of chilies and stir. If it was just for Denver and me, I would put two chipotle peppers, but if it is for others one gives it PLENTY of spice. They are deceiving, trust me!

Add potatoes and shredded chicken. Pour in chicken broth and cream. Add salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

Combine cornmeal with water. Stir to combine, then pour into the chowder. Cover and cook for 15 minutes over low heat until the potatoes are tender. If chowder needs more thickening, add another tablespoon of cornmeal mixed with water. Cook for another ten minutes.

This was a big hit with my family. I doubled the recipe and it was all gone at the end of the night! 

Hot Corn Dip

I know I have mentioned it before, but Denver loves Corn. So when we have parties to go to I sometimes make Corn Dip to bring to share with everyone. I have been experimenting with this recipe and now think I have it figured out the perfect recipe. I know it is strange it has mayonnaise in it but it is really good.

Ingredients:
Cooking spray to grease your pan
2-11 oz cans of drained Mexican Corn
1- 7 oz can of drained chopped green chilies
2 C of grated Pepperjack cheese (8 ounces)
2/3 C of grated Parmesan Cheese
1/3-1/2 C of mayonnaise
Red Pepper to sprinkle

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a dish. I use a 9 X 9 Pampered Chef Stoneware pan because it will keep the dip warmer longer.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except for the red pepper. Smooth into a dish and sprinkle with the red pepper sparingly. A little bit can go a long ways!

Bake it until bubbly around the edges approximately 30 minutes. I serve mine with tortilla chips but corn chips would be good too.

My Favorite Guacamole Dip

Ingredients:4 ripe avocadosJuice of one lemon or lime2 chopped roma tomatoes (I use these in the winter because they taste better, feel free to substitute any kind)2 cloves of garlic minced1 tsp. chili powder1-2 seeded jalapeno chopped finely (use gloves or you will burn your hands)¼ yellow onion chopped finelySalt and Pepper to taste

Remove insides of avocado into a bowl. Discard seeds and peeling. Add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well together with a spoon. No need to chop the avocados as they will eventually blend and remain slightly chunky, which is my favorite. Serve immediately with your favorite tortilla chips.

If you aren’t going to serve this within the next hour, the lemon juice will help it not turn that ugly color, however you will need to cover tightly with saran wrap making sure none of the dip is exposed to air. This dip will not keep overnight; so make sure you make it fresh.

This was a picture of my dip in the process of making. This looks like pure heaven to me. I love guacamole! 

The Easiest Roast

I went to visit some friends for dinner and he made roast. This roast was the best roast I had ever had in my life. I asked him for his recipe and managed to jot it down in my phone in notes. A few weeks later, I went and got all my ingredients and tried it one Sunday cooking in my dutch oven. I took it to my parents and they enjoyed the meal.It was pretty darn good, but I am someone who doesn't have much time and depend on my crockpot weekly to get me through at least one night's dinner. I wondered how I could modify his recipe and manage to cook it on my crockpot. I got up early and browned the meat, dredged it in a good red wine, and added all the items, and it turned out still good, but wasn't the most tender roast. Yes, even with the wine and locking in all the flavors by searing the meat. The next time I tried it a little different and decided I had a winner. It also happened to be the easiest recipe of them all. Here is what my roast looked liked that morning before I left for work.

I did all this the night before so all I had to do was pop it in the crockpot and turn it on low.

The Easiest Roast

1 roast (size that fits your family, I usually buy a two pack at Sam's and freeze the extra one)
Morton's Kosher Salt
Pepper
Veggies (I use celery, onions, and carrots..I wouldn't recommend potatoes or they will be mush)
Spice bag full of spices (4 cloves of garlic, three stalks of fresh thyme and fresh rosemary)
1 carton of beef broth

Place all your veggies on the bottom with your spice bag. Drench in your carton of beef broth. Salt and pepper your meat generously. I would put quite a bit of salt but don't drench it or you will end up with a very salty roast. Place your meat on top and put the lid on. Turn it on low and go to work for the day. When you get home, whip up some mashed potatoes to serve with your roast. Let me know what you think. I hope your family will be as happy as my husband is when I inform him we are having roast for dinner!

Taste Like Lasagna Soup

Tonight I had the best soup I have had in a long time. I had been trying to find the recipe to try from Pinterest called Lasagna Soup. I googled and found this recipe from Paula Deen and another shocker is, I didn't alternate the recipe. Can you believe it? It actually tasted pretty darn good without my tweeking. If it does get too thick, I would add a can of chicken broth to thin it back down to soup like consistency. 

Ingredients

1 lb ground chuck
1   onion, chopped
1   green bell pepper, chopped
3   cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
1   (32 ounce) box chicken broth
2   (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1   (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cup broken lasagna noodles
1   (5 ounce) package grated parmesan cheese
2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
garlic crostini, recipe follows

Garlic Crostini:
1 thin French baguette
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves smashed garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a large Dutch oven, combine ground chuck, onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until beef is browned and crumbles. Drain well. 

Stir in thyme, brown sugar, broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add noodles, and simmer until noodles are tender. Stir in Parmesan cheese.

Preheat broiler. Ladle soup into 8 to 10 ovenproof bowls. Evenly sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Broil soups, 6-inches from heat, 3 to 4 minutes, until cheese is browned and bubbly. Add a garlic crostini slice on top. Serve immediately. 

For the garlic crostini: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Cut bread into 1/4-inch round slices. Place on baking sheet and brush each slice with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper; place in oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Rub each side with smashed garlic cloves. 

Let me know what you think! 

Mom's Favorite Candy (Martha Washington Balls)

 

 

 

2 boxes of powdered sugar

1 can Eagle Brand Milk

7 oz angel flake coconut

1 stick of butter melted

2 cups chopped pecans

1 tbsp vanilla

Mix together and chill for a couple of hours. This makes it easier to form into balls. In double boiler-melt approximate 12 oz Semi Sweet chocolate chips (I use Nestle’) and 1 bar of gulf wax (you find this in the canning section at the supermarket).

Make mixture into balls and place on wax paper. Dip in chocolate using the toothpicks and tap off slightly. You can swirl the leftover chocolate on top to make a design. This makes approximately 125 balls.

Chocolate Covered Pecans

Chocolate Covered Pecans

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 bag of Chocolate Almond Bark

1 bag of pecans (Halves or pieces)

Wax paper

Mix chocolate in a bowl in 30 second increments, and stir until smooth. Add half the bag of pecans and coat them in chocolate. Continue to add the pecans until they are all covered in chocolate. Lay the wax paper on the counter, and drop the candy by spoonfuls onto the wax paper. I make them all different sizes of nut clusters. Continue to make batches of this until you run out of chocolate or pecans, whichever comes first!

The candy will cool and store in an air tight container.