Caldo Soup

Thank you mom for blogging this for me, and also, thank you for sharing this awesome soup!  She brought it down for us to have over Thanksgiving.  It froze and reheated really well, collard greens really hold their own.

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Did you ever want to make something different, something you’ve never tried before? Last week I took out my Paula Deen’s ‘The Lady and Sons, Too’ and decided that whatever page it opened to I’d make something from that page. It didn’t make any difference if it was a dessert or a pot roast, anything.

It came as no surprise that it opened to a page with a recipe I have used many times, but on the opposite page was Susan’s Caldo Soup. I don’t know Susan, and I didn’t know what was Caldo was so I read through it and decided that Caldo must mean collard greens, one of the ingredients it called for. In doing a little more looking I found that Caldo is Portuguese for broth so I learned something new that day.

I also learned that day that my little home town grocery store did not have frozen chopped collard greens. So, I headed across the street to visit with my neighbor from Mississippi to see if she thought replacing collard greens with spinach would work. Well, that’s when I found out that they are not interchangeable. The next evening she came bringing me a bag of frozen chopped collard greens that she had picked up at a large supermarket when she had been out of town that day.

So, I was all set to make the soup, what follows is the exact recipe and then I will tell you what I changed. I thought it was really good, something very different from anything I had ever had, and I will definitely make it again, that is, when I can get the collard greens.

Susan's Caldo Soup
Source:  The Lady and Sons, Too

Ingredients:
1/2# Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup diced onion
Three 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth
5 small new red potatoes, quartered
1 tsp. Lady’s House Seasoning
10 oz. frozen chopped collard greens

(I used the whole pound of sausage, doubled the butter, used all of one large onion and the can of chicken broth was 49.5 oz.)

Directions:
Cut the sausage into ¼” slices. Melt the butter over medium heat, add the onion and sausage, sauté until the onion is transparent, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, potatoes, and House Seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add the collard greens, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Before serving, using a fork, mash some of the potatoes to thicken the soup.

Paula Deen's Chicken Bog

I'm going to say it.

It's so much fun being a mom.

Tell me how you can look at a sweet baby face like that and your heart not melt.

Brent and I used to think having fun meant going out with friends, usually involved spending a lot of money and staying up way too late. Now, fun is getting a smile like this. We still enjoy seeing our friends, we went to a party Friday evening, but when it comes down to it, I'd rather play with Caleb. Because I need to get as much of this baby love in as I can before he grows up.

Since my weekends are filled more with things like playing with Caleb and *gasp* housework than they used to be, I don't have as much time to cook fancy meals. When I do cook, I try to find recipes that make a lot of food so we can have leftovers for a few days. My mom reminded me of this Paula Deen recipe that been a standby of hers for years and has always been a family favorite.

Chicken Bog
Source: Paula Deen

Ingredients:

3 pounds chicken thighs

1 pound smoked link sausage

1 cup chopped onion 1 stick butter

2 teaspoons Seasoned Salt

2 teaspoons Paula Deen's House Seasoning

1 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 bay leaves

8 cups water

3 cups raw white rice

Directions:

Slice the sausage into 1/2-inch pieces. In a stockpot, combine the chicken, sausage, onion, butter, seasonings and bay leaves. Add the water, bring to a boil, cover, and cook at a low boil for 40 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool slightly. Pick the meat from the bones, discarding the bones and skin. Add the rice to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring well. Boil for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the rice is done. Remove the bay leaves, and return the chicken to the pot.

Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com this morning. We wanted soup for dinner since today was so fall-like. The recipe turned out great and the broth was so incredibly flavorful, it was wonderful to eat it with a crusty piece of bread. Then it happened...as I was cleaning the kitchen, I looked once more at the recipe I'd printed out. I'd forgotten to include the tortellini in the soup! It was still sitting in it's package in the refrigerator and dinner was over and done with. Even though I have no idea how I managed to forget the title ingredient, it was still great. I'm sure the pasta and cheese would only make it better!

I made several adjustments to the recipe which I will note below. For the original recipe, tortellini and all, go to Allrecipes.com.

Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini
Adapted from: allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3/4 pound hot Italian saugage
1/4 pound pork sausage
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1 cup red wine
2 16 oz. cans petit diced tomatoes
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
8 ounces tortellini pasta

Directions:

In a large stock pot, brown sausage. Remove and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings.

Saute the onion until nearly translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute. Stir in broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, tomato sauce and sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 50 minutes.

Skim fat from the soup, add the tortellini and simmer another ten minutes. Garnish with Parmesan before serving.

Sausage Cake

One of the many blogs I follow, Elizabeth's Edible Experience, put up this recipe a few weeks ago. I saved it knowing Brent would love it. It was a great breakfast and a lot of the prepwork could be done the night before, making it easy to prepare for guests. Check out Elizabeth's blog sometime, I've saved several of her recipes, just waiting for a chance to make them!

Sausage Cake

Source: Elizabeth's Edible Experience
Adapted From: "Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux?" by Marcelle Bienvenu

Ingredients:

1 pound of hot bulk sausage
1/2 cup of chopped onions
1 cup of chopped red bell peppers
1 cup of chopped green bell peppers
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of grated pepper jack cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon of Tabasco
1 1/2 teaspoons of a combination of salt, black pepper and garlic powder
2 cups of biscuit mix
3/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of sour cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brown sausage and vegetables over medium heat. Drain off excess oil. Add the cheeses, egg, hot sauce and seasoning mix. Make a batter with the biscuit mix, milk and sour cream and fold it into the sausage mixture. Pour into a greased 9x9 inch dish and bake for about 45 minutes, until nicely brown.

Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers

I'm trying to explore new sections of the grocery store...I think they call it 'shopping around the edges'. The idea is to find new foods that you've never cooked with before. Our Wal-Mart has a nice sized Mexican food section in the refrigerator case where I found a bright red tube of chorizo sausage.
If, like me, you've never cooked with chorizo, don't be surprised if it looks like the least appetizing thing you've ever seen in a skillet (seriously, I almost threw it out, but it smelled good so I perservered). Just press the sausage down into a disk and be sure to take a second during cooking to drain the excess liquid (grease I guess)that comes out of the sausage. Flip the disk over and continue browning, then crumble when it's completely cooked. *confession, I had to Google how to cook chorizo, I had no idea*
I created this recipe using items I had on hand. It turned out really well and it came together quickly.

Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers

Source: A Hilary Original Recipe

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers
1 pound chorizo sausage
1 onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1.5 cups minute rice
1.5 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
Cheddar cheese to taste
Sour cream, olives, other garnishes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Cut the bell peppers in half, removing stem and seeds. Place on a baking sheet lined with tin foil and put in oven, roasting until slightly soft and liquid is starting to seep from the peppers.

Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium heat, saute the onion and sausage. Once the sausage is thoroughly cooked, add the tomatoes, rice and water. Allow to simmer until rice is cooked and the mixture has thickened. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Spoon the sausage mixture into the bell pepper shells. Top with chedder cheese and bake about ten minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Garnish as desired.

Mini Sausage Quiches

Have you ever decided to have a party and begin to plan the food menu, only to realize that the food question majorly stresses you out because you don't have time to cook/clean/shop/what the hell was I thinking to invite these people to my house/what am I going to wear/I'm such a loser!!!!? After hours of fret and catatonic worry, you buy a sausage and cheese platter and throw it on the coffee table, secretly wishing to be a domestic goddess for whom planning and preparing for a party weren't such a crisis. This has happened to me more than once and it makes me think twice before I decide to entertain. However, I have decided to meet my partyphobia head on and try something that seems to work for others (so surely it can work for me) ...planning ahead.

West 95 and I decided that it's time for us to have some killer appetizers in pocket so we are ready when the party bug hits us. Our plan is to make yummy party appetizer recipes a couple times a month so we know how they taste, how long it takes to prepare them, if they freeze well, and how much they cost to make (that's an important one if you're having a big gathering). The first recipe we decided to try was quiche. They were supposed to be mini, but neither of us owns a mini muffin pan, so they were muffin sized. Even so, they were the perfect size and consistency to be eaten without a fork, or even without a plate, if you party with heathens like we do.

Mini Sausage Quiche

About.com

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed and unfolded
1/2 pound bulk pork country sausage, hot or mild
1/4 cup finely minced sweet onion
1/4 cup finely diced sweet red bell pepper
1 clove finely minced garlic
4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 large block), at room temperature
1/8 tsp dry mustard powder
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of hot sauce, to taste
Dash Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs
Shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a mini-muffin pan. (I used a regular sized muffin pan)

Lightly flour your workspace and using a rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry to a 12" x 14" sheet. It should be about 1/8" thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out 24 rounds. (I actually preferred the quiches that only had crust on the bottom as opposed to crust going up each side. Use a smaller circle cutter and experiment with the amount of crust to use)

Saute sausage, onion, red bell pepper and garlic until meat is no longer pink, breaking the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Drain the fat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Place 1 tbsp of the mixture in the bottom of each cup.

Blend the cream cheese, dry mustard, sage, thyme, onion powder, salt, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce until smooth, then beat in eggs, one at a time, until just incorporated. Spoon the egg mixture into the cups and sprinkle with the shredded cheese.

Bake 10 minutes until golden, serve warm.

The recipe also says these can be frozen and reheated in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, and I know I told you this experiment was meant to test the freezing quotient of the dish, but soon after these honies came out of the oven, five ravenous people devoured them, rendering me incapable of that portion of the project. We'll have to take about.com's word for it.