Souper Supper

Football, September in Minnesota can only mean one thing - Soup Season! We have had a few cool days so this week soup sounded like an excellent choice. We were not sure who would show up so we decided on 2 choices - Shrimp Corn Chowder and Seafood Gumbo - one a little spicy, the other really spicy! When we lived in KC we had a friend who was from New Orleans who made a mean gumbo. Ever since it has been one of my favorites. The key is in making the rue, something I am still trying to master.

I have a great cajun cookbook that explains this process well and has some great recipes. I used the book for the gumbo and also some jalapeno cheddar rolls.

menu
spicy shrimp corn chowder
Cajun Seafood Gumbo with Andouille Smoked Sausage - Recipe courtesy Paul Prudhomme
jalapeno cheddar rolls - Recipe courtesy Paul Prudhomme


spicy corn chowder

Ingredients
4 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small jalapeno, chopped seeds and ribs removed
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken stock
2 Idaho potatoes, diced
1 cup heavy cream
12 ounces frozen corn

3/4 lb raw shrimp, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
Directions
In a small saucepan over medium heat, saute the bacon until crisp and browned and the fat is rendered. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel and reserve. There should be about 4 tablespoons of bacon grease in pan.
Add the onions and red pepper to pan. Saute until tender and translucent, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the jalapeno and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the flour until thoroughly combined. Cook the flour until it reaches a slight blonde color, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken stock and the potatoes and simmer for 10 minutes; potatoes will become soft. Add the cream, corn, shrimp, cayenne and bay leaf. Simmer for 15 more minutes. Pour into a serving bowl and garnish with the reserved bacon.

Cajun Seafood Gumbo with Andouille Smoked Sausage

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped onions
1 ½ cups chopped green bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
Seasoning mix (see recipe)
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup flour
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 ½ cups seafood stock (see note)
1 pound andouille smoked sausage, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 pound peeled medium shrimp
1 dozen medium to large oysters in their liquor, about 9 ounces
¾ pound crabmeat (picked over; see note)
2 ½ cups hot cooked rice
For seasoning mix:
2 whole bay leaves
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon dried oregano leaves

Preparation:
In medium-size bowl, combine onions, bell peppers and celery.
Prepare seasoning mix.
In large heavy skillet, heat oil over high heat until it

begins to smoke, about 5 minutes. Gradually add flour,
whisking constantly with a long-handled metal whisk.
Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until roux is
dark red-brown to black, about 2 to 4 minutes,
being careful not to let it scorch or splash on your skin. Immediately add half the vegetables and stir well (switch to a spoon if necessary). Continue stirring and cooking about 1 minute. Add remaining vegetables and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Stir in seasoning mix and continue cooking about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic; stir well, then cook and stir about 1 minute more. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, place stock in 5 ½-quart saucepan or
 large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Add roux mixture
by spoonfuls to the boiling stock, stirring until dissolved
between each addition. Bring mixture to a boil. Add andouille
and return to a boil; continue boiling 15 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes more.

Add shrimp, undrained oysters and crabmeat. Return to

a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat

and skim any oil from the surface. Serve immediately.
To serve as a main course, mound ¼ cup rice in the middle of
each serving bowl. Spoon 1 cup gumbo over the top, making
sure each person gets an assortment of the seafood and andouille.
 For appetizer servings, serve half this amount in a cup.




jalapeno cheddar rolls

8 Cups flour
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated (about 5 cups)
3/4 Cup minced jalapeno
1/2 Cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt (I like a full TBS in mine)
2 Cups warm water (105 - 115)
3 packages dry yeast
2 2/3 TBS pork lard or vegetable oil
Combine flour, cheese, jalapenos, 7 TBS of the sugar and salt. Mix well. Combine water, yeast and remaining 1 TBS sugar let sit 10 minutes. Add lard to liquid to melt. Add liquid to flour and mix thoroughly. Knead 15 minutes until smooth and elastic Place in large greased bowl and cover to rise. After an hour punch dough down. Divide
into 3 loaves or 2 dozen rolls place in loaf pans
cover and let rise till doubled. Bake at 325 until

dark brown and done. Rotate pans occasionally for
evenness. Remove bread from pan after 5 minutes or so,
try to wait till bread is cool and enjoy.
For 3 loaves or 2 dozen rolls.











Turned out to be a quiet evening, Johnny, Kz and myself for supper. Kz put us at the kitchen island where we had a great meal then off to watch Sunday Night football. It doesn't get better than this. See you next week.

Cheers from the gang!



On the Road Again

Well this Sunday I had to fly to Chicago for work (left around one) so Sunday Supper was just Kz. Before I left I made a big pot of chili for her that she could use for many meals. Sunday night - chili with caramel roll left over from brunch. Monday - chili over jasmine rice. Tuesday - chili over noodles. Of course when I got here I went out with the team and had salad, prime rib and a twice baked potato!

I came up with this chili recipe Thursday -NFL opening - night and just used what I had on hand. It turned out tasty and I even remembered what I put in it.

menu

todd's new chili
leftover caramel roll


todd's new chili
ingredients
1/2 lb sausage (i use bob evans original)
1/2 lb burger
1 red pepper, diced

2 small shallots, diced

2 medium fresh tomatoes, diced

1 can tomato sauce

1 can dark red kidney beans

1 can chili beans
1 c salsa, medium
12 oz can of beer

1 1/2 tbsp chili powder

1/2 - 1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp italian seasoning

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

salt

pepper

garlic infused olive oil (from the oilerie)

directions

In a dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat, Add pork and beef in crumbles. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next add peppers and shallots, cook 5 minutes more. Add 1/2 tbsp chili powder, salt and pepper, cook a few more minutes. Add fresh diced tomatoes and cook a few minutes more. Next add the tomato sauce, salsa, beer, beans, the rest of the chili powder, cumin, italian seasoning and paprika. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove cover (add water to get to desired consistency) cook over low until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Cheers from the Gang!

End of Summer

You know, I always look forward to a 3 day weekend but this being Labor Day weekend can only mean one thing - Summer is coming to an end! Kids are back to school, there is a chill in the air, so we have to enjoy the nice days while we can. And today was one of those days:

Plenty of sun and about 70 degrees = Barbecue Bash

The original plan was to smoke a pork shoulder (had an 8 pounder in the freezer) but I forgot to take it out in time so Sunday morning it was still a brick. This was taking longer to defrost than a Thanksgiving turkey! So the next best things to smoked pork? The BEST Ribs Ever of course. That was the main course and we recruited plenty of friends to enjoy the day and bring all the sides. Here is what we had:

menu
appetizers
homemade guacamole
shrimp cocktail (Johnny)
johnny's famous bloody mary's
entree
Best Ribs Ever
potato salad (Cindy)
johnny's sesame coleslaw
baked beans, spicy and mild (Karen)
fresh sweet corn (Rindy - fresh from the garden)
dessert
chocolate zucchini bundt cake with ganashe (Kristen)
homemade whipped cream (Rindy)

guacamole
ingredients
2-3 haas avocados
juice from 1 lemon
1 glove garlic, minced
1/4 red onion, diced

6-9 splashes of Tabasco

salt and pepper to taste

2-3 small plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

directions

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit. Dig the flesh

out and place in a bowl. Squeeze the juice from the

lemon over the avocados (to prevent browning), add the garlic, onion, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Using 2 knives (going in opposite directions) slice the avocado mixture, leaving chunks of avocado. Add the tomatoes and mix with fork.

BEST Ribs Ever (click to find recipe for ribs and johnny's sesame coleslaw)

chocolate zucchini bundt cake with ganashe

(recipe courtesy of Zoe Bakes)

ingredients

2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour, scoop and sweep

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar, well packed

¾ cup sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup plain yogurt

2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini, tightly packed

4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate,

melted and cooled to room temperature

Confectioners’ sugar for the top of the cake

Note - we used a chocolate ganashe instead

Preheat oven to 350° F

Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt Pan , set aside.

Cut the tops and bottoms of the zucchini off, and

then cut into quarters. Remove the seeds if they are

large and at all tough. This was only necessary for the

child-sized squash, when I picked them early and they

were a reasonable size I didn’t have to remove the seeds.

Use a Box Grater or the grater attachment for a Food Processor

Sift together the flour, soda, salt and cocoa powder, set aside.

In a stand mixer cream together the butter, brown sugar and sugar using the paddle attachment, until it is light and fluffy. Slowly add the oil, until it is evenly distributed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the yogurt in 3 additions each.

Remove from the mixer and stir in the grated zucchini until it is evenly distributed.

Stir in the melted and cooled chocolate.

Pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about one hour

or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in the

pan until nearly room temperature, you should be able to

comfortably handle it.

In the meantime make the ganashe and let cool. Pour over cooled cake and serve with whipped cream. Tasty!!!!

This turned out to be quite a spread and a great meal to end the summer party season!

After eating, Steve got a fire blazing in his fire pit and we hung out, listening to music, telling tall tales and having a great time.

 Some of us did not make it the entire night!

See you next week.

Cheers from the Gang!

Happy 22nd Anniversary

Sorry for the late post - it has been a busy week.

Our anniversary was on Friday the 26th so Sunday Supper this week we had some of our favorite foods. For the appetizer round we had red curry-lime chicken wings (courtesy of Tyler Florence and Food & Wine). These were an instant favorite from the first batch. I have made them many times! The other appetizer comes from our hometown and a favorite of many. There was a small restaurant in town, Wannas Won ton Inn ( long gone now) that served the best won tons ever! Last weekend at the wedding, a friend of ours stumbled on the recipe on the Damn Good Food blog. So we decided it would be a good idea to try them! Johnny brought over fresh springs rolls from our favorite Thai food place Sawatdee - Maple Grove.
Sticking with an Asian theme, we prepared chicken red curry served over jasmine rice for the main dish. Rindy made and brought dessert, banana split pie. She had mentioned this before and everyone thought it sounded super good. We were not disappointed.

menu
red curry-lime chicken wings
Wanna's won tons
fresh spring rolls
chicken red curry
jasmine rice
banana split pie

red curry-lime chicken wings
Ingredients
4 pounds chicken wings, tips discarded,

wings separated into 2 pieces
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
1 tablespoon honey
Juice and finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions
(Note: The Tyler Florence recipe bakes the wings for 40 minutes at 475.)

Prepare grill for direct medium heat. Place wings in grill pan.Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss.
Grill wings for 20 - 25 minutes
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, blend the butter with the curry paste, honey,
lime juice and zest and soy sauce. When the wings are done, transfer
them to the bowl and toss with the butter until well coated.
Transfer the wings to a platter and serve.

wannas won tons

Ground pork - I used Bob Evans 1 lb tube
Extremely finely diced onion
Extremely finely diced garlic
Won ton skins
vegetable oil
Mix the pork with a little bit of onion and a little bit of garlic.
For 1 lb sausage (comes in a plastic sleeve) I put 1/4

of an onion and 2 clove of garlic. Put 1 heaping teaspoons worth of

meat in the center of a won ton skin. Fold over into a triangle to enclose the meat,
sealing the edges by dipping your finger in water and running it over the edge of the
skin before pressing it together.

Fry the won tons in vegetable oil 3-4 minutes turning once.

I used a fryer but can do this in an inch of oil in a small saucepan.

Wannas also had a special dipping sauce. Here it is:

Wanna's Sweet, Sour, and Spicy Won ton Sauce

Ketchup
sugar
vinegar
cayenne pepper

Mix ketchup with vinegar, cayenne pepper and sugar. How much of each you
add depends on your tastes. One of these times I will measure how much I
put in but you're on your own for now. Just mix those 4 ingredients up until
it tastes like something you would want to dip something porky and delicious in.

fresh spring rolls

from sawatdee

Supenn's Fresh Spring RollsStuffed with shrimp, chicken, silver-thread noodles and veggies.

 Served at room temperature with our homemade sweet peanut sauce

chicken red curry

ingredients

these can change depending on what veggies you have on hand

ingredients ( this serves 2 so adjust accordingly)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion—finely chopped
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
2 cloves garlic—finely chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
1 red pepper, julienned
1 cup Jasmine rice
12 oz  uncooked chicken thighs—cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed to a paste with 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 large fresh basil leaves—finely sliced

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook

 the onion for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD the curry paste

 and garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute. ADD the coconut milk,

 stock, fish sauce, sugar and salt, then bring to the boil.

ADD the red pepper and zucchini, cover with a lid, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 12 minutes. WHILE the curry simmers, cook the rice. ADD the chicken to the curry and simmer, covered, for a further 8 minutes. ADD the cornstarch paste and stir continuously until the curry thickens, then stir in the lemon juice and basil. SERVE on a bed of rice.

banana split pie

Courtesy of:  www.foodnetwork.com
3 cups light vanilla ice cream
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
2 cups fat-free whipped topping, thawed from frozen
One 60-calorie sugar-free chocolate pudding snack
2 bananas, sliced
2 tablespoons light chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon crushed dry-roasted peanuts
8 maraschino cherries

Set out all of your ingredients so your ice cream

 doesn't melt too much once you start assembling.

Once slightly softened, scoop ice cram into a large

 pie pan and spread into an even layer along the bottom. 

 Evenly place strawberry slices flat over the ice cream,

pressing down lightly so they adhere.

Put shipped topping in a bowl.  Add pudding and mix thoroughly.  Spread pudding/topping mixture into a smooth layer over the strawberries.  Evenly place banana slices flat over this layer, and drizzle with chocolate syrup.  Sprinkle with nuts and evenly place the cherries on top of the pie.  Freeze for about 4 hours (or overnight), until completely firm.

Allow the pie to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before slicing.  Cut into 8 slices and enjoy!

Overall a great meal with good friends and good wine. The won tons brought back a lot of good memories and will be made many more times. Enjoy.

Cheers from the Gang!

Back from Iowa

Well after 3 weekends traveling to Iowa, we made it back home Sunday night. We were a bit tired from the driving so just ordered in for the night. It was nice and relaxing.

The wedding was great and we saw some friends we had not seen in years! Catching up was a lot of fun and may have contributed to the tiredness. Sunday Supper will return this week and will be extra special. Kz and I will be celebrating our 22nd Anniversary so our planning a GREAT menu. Check back next week to see how it goes.

Cheers from the gang!

Sunday on Thursday

With another upcoming trip to Iowa looming, Kz and I decided to have Sunday Supper on Thursday. And it turned out to be a great night, cool temps, sunshine and a great group of friends. The menu was an easy one to plan. Kz and I had just been to Costco the night before and picked up a nice slab of salmon and some tri tip steaks. When we were buying them we had planned on cooking some and freezing the rest for later but now were having 7 adults along with 2 kids for supper!

Steve volunteered to make dessert (which he then had Cindy make), Rindy made some deviled eggs and we had the rest.

menu
deviled eggs
grilled asparagus
corn  on the cob (fresh from the CSA)
cedar plank salmon
grilled tri tip steaks
chocolate chip cookies w/macadamia nuts

Deviled Eggs (Pillsbury Complete Cookbook)12 eggs
1 teaspoon dry mustard or 2 teaspoons prepared mustard
Dash pepper
1/3 cup mayonnaise, salad dressing or sour cream
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Paprika or chopped fresh parsley

Place eggs in large saucepan; cover eggs with cold water.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer about 15 minutes.

Immediately drain; run cold water over eggs to stop cooking.

Peel eggs; halve lengthwise. Remove yolks; place in small bowl. Mash yolks with fork.

Add remaining ingredients except paprika; mix until fluffy. Spoon or pipe mixture into egg white halves. Sprinkle with paprika.







grilled asparagus
fresh asparagus

olive oil
salt
pepper

Drizzle olive oil over asparagus. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Grill over high heat, about 5 minutes. Remove to platter and serve hot.



fresh sweet corn
fresh sweet corn, shucked
salt
butter

Bring large pot of water to boil, add salt to water. Add corn, return to rapid boil and cook 6 minutes. Serve hot with salt and butter.


cedar plank salmon
large fillet of salmon (we used about 2 lbs)
olive oil
1 lemon, sliced
salt
pepper
cedar plank

Soak the cedar plank for at least 2 hours before grilling. Drizzle olive oil over salmon. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Place lemon slices on salmon. Heat grill to high heat. For a smokier flavor place cedar plank on hot grill for 5 minutes before adding salmon. Once plank is smoking, add salmon and grill covered 10 - 20 minutes, until salmon flakes easily.

grilled tri tip steaks

tri tip steaks

olive oil

salt

pepper

Remove meat from fridge 30 minutes before cooking.

Season steaks with olive oil, salt and pepper. Prepare grill for high heat. Grill steaks 5 minutes per side (turning once) for medium rare. Remove to platter and let stand 10 minutes before slicing. These steaks had the added flavor of the cedar plank as we cooked this at the same time as the salmon.

And for dessert we had some tasty chocolate chip cookies with macadamia nuts! They were hot out of the oven and some of the best cookies ever. Thanks Cindy!!!


Well Kz and I have another trip to Iowa this weekend so are not sure if we will make it back in time for a Sunday Supper but we are going to do our best! So be sure to check back next week.

Cheers from the Gang!!!

Dinner For Two

We are back from the first of 3 trips to Iowa. For this one we traveled to Council Bluffs (about 7 hour drive) for a family reunion. These are special in the fact it is a reunion for my Grandma and her siblings. Grandma is 97 and, on Saturday, the youngest of the group celebrated her 80th birthday!! I have learned a lot from Grandma and we will explore some of her recipes at a later date.
Anyway, we got home Saturday night and walked in to a hot house. The AC junked out while we were gone and it was 81 degrees in the house. The repairman cannot get here until Wednesday so we are learning a bit of how folks lived before AC. It is too hot for guests so it is just the 2 of us and here is what we came up with.

menu
insalata caprese
angel hair pasta with red sauce
vanilla ice cream with strawberries and chocolate

insalata caprese

ingredients

fresh beefsteak tomatoes
fresh mozzarella cheese
fresh basil
olive oil
salt
pepper

directions
Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Place a tomato slice on the plate and top with cheese. Roll basil leaves and roughly chop. Sprinkle basil over tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with olive oil.



angel hair pasta with red sauce
ingredients
2 14oz cans tomato sauce
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp fresh basil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

salt

pepper

directions

Pour tomato sauce into medium pot. Add Italian seasoning, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to simmer. In the meantime, saute the onions in olive oil until tender, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and cook one minute more. Add mixture to tomato sauce and simmer for 1 - 2 hours. 10 minutes before serving stir in fresh basil. Serve over pasta.

vanilla ice cream with strawberries and chocolate
ingredients
fresh strawberries, diced
melted chocolate
vanilla ice cream

direction

Stir strawberries into melted chocolate, coat well.
Pour mixture over vanilla ice cream and enjoy!










That is all for this week - a nice quiet evening for myself and Kz!

See you next week.
Cheers from the gang!