COOK: Phil's Chorizo and Bean Soup

I love soups, they are easy to make, great to freeze, make you feel warm and cozy, and are fun to customize.  (They also pair wonderfully with yummy breads, chips, croutons, and I can't say no to carbs!)

This recipe comes from my dad, he brought us some last winter and I ate it for three days straight and was sad when it was gone!  Since it's finally winter here I asked him for the recipe last week, and after eating it for dinner last night I woke up and was counting the hours until I could have it for lunch, it's so yummy!

I did change a few things from my dad's recipe, he uses granulated garlic, and onion powder, I used a diced onion, and minced garlic cloves.  I also served it with lime wedges, and the hit of lime juice really brought out all of the flavors.  Both versions were delicious, so do whichever you prefer.

In addition to changing the types of beans you use you can make other substitutions.  I think it would also be good with italian sausage in place of the chorizo, you can play with the herbs as well, just depends on what you have in the fridge, and what you are craving.

(I made a half batch, I used 3 cans of beans since 2 1/2 cans seemed silly!)

Phil's Chorizo & Bean Soup

Servings: About 16

Ingredients:

24 Ounces Chorizo

5 15.5/16 Ounce Cans Beans (Mix and Match whatever you prefer)

2 14 Ounce Cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes

32 Ounces Water or Broth

1 Large Jalapeño (Thinly Sliced)

1 Medium Yellow Onion (Diced)

3-5 Garlic Cloves (Minced)

1 Tablespoon Fresh Rosemary (Minced) Optional but tasty!

1-2 teaspoons Cumin

1/4 Cup Fresh Cilantro (Chopped, Save some for garnish)

To Taste:

    Garlic Powder

    Onion Powder

    Salt

    Pepper

Optional for serving:

Line Wedges

Hot Sauce

Tortilla Strips or Chips

Crusty Bread (Recipe here)

Preparation:

In a large pot (I used my 6.5 Quart Enameled Dutch Oven) cook Onions in a bit of oil until translucent, add Garlic and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.  Add in everything but the Chorizo, mix well, cover and let simmer for at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

In a separate pan cook Chorizo, add just before serving.

I garnished with extra Cilantro, and served with a Lime Wedge and Chile & Lime Tortilla Chips.

This soups freezes wonderfully!

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COOK: Chili Crisp Pork Ramen

 I have seen Spicy Chili Crisp used countless times on different cooking shows, and finally picked up a jar at the grocery store to try, I wish I hadn't waited so long, it is delicious!  

When I made this ramen for dinner KC told me I needed to write down how I made it and add it to our dinner rotation, Berea saw the picture I posted and come over the next day to eat the leftovers and agreed it was amazing!  Another bonus, it's quick and easy, perfect for a quick weeknight dinner.  I used pork, but I think you could easily substitute chicken breast, tofu or beef.  I think it would also be great with some veggies thrown in, let me know if you try any variations.

Chili Crisp Pork Ramen

2-4 Servings

Ingredients:

Marinade:

1.5 Pounds Pork Tenderloin or Pork Chops (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

1/2 Cup Teriyaki Sauce

Sauce:

3 Tablespoons Chili Crisp

2 teaspoons Rice Vinegar

1 teaspoon Brown Sugar

2 teaspoons Lite Soy Sauce

1 1/2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter

3 Packages Ramen Noodles (seasoning packet not needed)

Topping (Optional):

Sliced Green Onions

Toasted Sesame Seeds

Everything Bagel Seasoning

Preparation: 

Combine garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and teriyaki sauce and add in pork to marinate at least 30 minutes.

In a small bowl whisk together chili crisp, rice vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and peanut butter, set aside.

In a skillet or cast iron pan with oil cook the pork over medium high heat for a few minutes until just cooked through.  Turn burner to low and add in sauce, let simmer.

Cook ramen noodles in boiling water, then drain and add to meat and sauce mixture.  

Dish up and add toppings.  

Store leftovers in a plastic container in fridge, makes great leftovers cold or hot.

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COOK: Creamy Mustard Sauce

This easy pan sauce is so good on chicken, pork, potatoes, a spoon...

My best advice for any pan sauce, or really any meal, is to get all of your ingredients prepped before you start cooking.  When everything you need is chopped, measured, and ready in bowls and measuring cups right next to your cooking space it's easy to follow any directions, and you don't have to worry about anything overcooking or burning.

Notes: You can use any combination of mustards, just make sure they total 4 Tablespoons.
If you don't have heavy cream you can use half and half, but your sauce won't be as thick.
Chicken or Veggie stock can be used in place of the white wine, we keep Better Than Bullion in the fridge as a staple, it's great for sauces like this.

Creamy Mustard Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Shallot (Chopped)

1/3 Cup Dry White Wine 

2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard

2 Tablespoons Stone Ground Mustard

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

2 teaspoons Dried Tarragon

2 teaspoons Dried Parsley

Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

(I have always made this after first cooking meat in the same cast iron pan, if you are just making the sauce add a bit of olive oil to your pan to start.)

In a 10 inch cast iron pan cook shallots over medium heat until slightly translucent, about 2-3 minutes, then add in wine and mustard, using a whisk combine it all together, if you used the pan to cook meat make sure you scape up the yummy brown bits for extra flavor.  

Turn temperature down to low, add in heavy cream, tarragon, and parsley. continue to mix slowly until sauce starts to thicken, add salt and pepper to taste.  

Any leftover sauce can be refrigerated for several days.

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COOK: Fajita/Taco Seasoning Recipe

Let's taco-bout quick and easy dinners, and ways to use the leftovers to create a new and different meal the next day.  Did I lose you all at "taco-bout"?   I know that was corny.   (Although corn is a great addition to a lot of these meals.)

I'll add my basic Fajita Seasoning recipe at the end of this post, (if you only want the recipe scroll to the bottom now.) but first I'd like to talk about some of the different ways you can use the seasoning in different ways, and how to transform the leftovers.

This seasoning is great on ground beef, steak, chicken, shrimp, fish, veggies, and even tofu crumbles!  If your kiddos are anything like mine "Taco Tuesday", on any day of the week, is one of their favorites.  Flour tortillas, corn tortillas, or taco shells, maybe even chips for nachos are the norm.  That said, what happens when everyone is bored of the same thing and you have either leftovers to use up, or want a quick meal?

KC taught me about Taco Grilled Cheese, why I had never thought of this, I don't know, I guess I'm lucky I found him.  This one is simple, butter your bread, put butter side down in your skillet or pan, add a slice of American Cheese, (the only reason I buy the cheese singles is for grilled cheese, or burgers in the summer time), add a bit of warmed up taco meat, top with a bit of grated cheddar cheese, add hot sauce if you want, then top with the other slice of bread, butter side up.  Flip until both sides are toasty and cheese is melted.  If you have some left over Green Chile from your Taco Night you can warm that and use as a dipping sauce.

One of my favorite ways to use up leftover fajita meat and veggies is to cook some pasta and make a quick cheese sauce, (If you are low on time, or energy make some boxed Mac and Cheese!) then add the meat and veggies, mix, top with leftover grated cheese, sour cream, or green chile sauce.  You could also do the same with rice, add in a can of black beans and some corn and you have a real feast!

If you want to get extra fancy you can make Enchiladas, my post with  homemade Enchilada Sauce is here, or you can find my recipe for Baked Chimichangas here.  We also like to make Empanadas, they are easy to freeze, and reheat easily in the microwave for lunches, I'll update the post with my Empanada Dough recipe, but you can also use my Flaky Pie Crust Recipe (omit the sugar) found here.

A few last notes, instead of using water with the Fajita/Taco Seasoning my Father-In-Law uses Pineapple Juice, while KC and Dust hate pineapple they like the flavor it adds.  If you are using the seasoning as a marinade try adding some citrus flavored seltzer to your marinade mix.

Fajita/Taco Seasoning

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Cornstarch (omit if using for marinade)

2 teaspoons Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/2 teaspoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (add more if you like spice!)

1/2 teaspoon Cumin

This is enough for about 2 pounds of meat, you can save any leftover seasoning in an airtight container.

You can use this as a dry rub (great for fish), mix it with some oil, lime juice, seltzer, or even just water to make a marinade for your meat, or add it to cooked meat and/or veggies and add about 1/4 Cup liquid per pound of meat and mix and let simmer.

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COOK: Sausage Cheddar Muffins

I had been wanting to try a savory breakfast muffin for quite a while but wasn't sure how they would go over with everyone.  Berea said she wasn't sure about them, but KC was all for anything with sausage and eggs so I decided to try it.  Berea was home when I made them the first time and I asked her to just try a bite, she ate the whole thing and decided she loved them, KC agreed when he had his for breakfast the next day.

These are easy to make, and they freeze well, so I suggest making a double, or triple batch and popping the extras in the freezer, then you can just take out a few for breakfast and pop them in the microwave for about 1 minute and they are just as good as when they first come out of the oven!

I used basic breakfast sausage, but I'm excited to try with spicy sausage, or the sage sausage.  If you like sweet I bet the maple sausage would be yummy too!

As I was writing this I started thinking about the different cheeses or mixtures of cheese I could use, I'll update you on anything I try.

I'm going to try these with whole wheat flour next time, if it works I'll update the recipe.

Sausage Cheddar Muffins

Ingredients:

2 Cups All Purpose Flour 

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 Cup Milk

1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter (melted)

2 Eggs (slightly beaten)

1 Cup Breakfast Sausage (cooked, crumbled, and drained)

1 1/2 Cups Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease 12 muffin cups, or use liners. (I prefer to make these in liners, the cheese tends to stick to the sides of the cup, even in a well greased cup.)

As with most muffin recipes it's best to use a bowl and a wooden spoon, if you use a mixer you can over mix them leading to flat and tough muffins.

In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic, and onion.  

Add in your milk and melted butter and mix well.  Add your eggs and mix until everything is incorporated, it's okay to have some lumps.  

Fold in the sausage and cheese, until just incorporated.  

Fill muffin cups to about 3/4 full.  Bake for 20-23 minutes, let cool 10 minutes and then remove from the pan and let cool fully on a baking rack.  They can be kept in a plastic container in the fridge for a week, or in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to two months.

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COOK: Spicy Ginger Sesame Sauce

We really like making "stir-fry", it's a great way to use up leftover meat and random veggies from the fridge, and they are usually really quick to throw together.

I've shared my Chinese Firecracker Sauce on the blog before, it's one of KC's favorites, but it's very spicy and I wanted to find something that would work with any kind of meat (or tofu) but not be too spicy for the kiddos.  After looking at a ton of different recipes I made up this "Frankenstein" recipe.

I used pork the first time, and didn't have any veggies but did have a can of water chestnuts in the pantry so I threw those in.  I think this would be really good with tofu and snow peas, or beef and broccoli, or probably any other combination of protein and veggies.  I served it over ramen noodles, but you could serve it with rice, or on it's own with lots of veggies.

This sauce has great flavor with some heat that lingers, if I was making it when the kiddos were here I would probably use half as much sriracha.  

Spicy Ginger Sesame Sauce

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (I always use the low sodium)

3 Tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar

1 1/2 Tablespoons Honey

1 Tablespoon Sriracha (less if you don't want too much spice)

1 teaspoon Sesame Oil

2 Cloves Garlic (minced, or you can use garlic powder)

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger 

Preparation:

Mix everything together.

You can use it as a marinade for your meat (if using as a marinade on tofu omit the sesame oil, it will keep the tofu from absorbing the marinade.) 

Or use it as a sauce, I cooked cubed pork, then added my water chestnuts, added the sauce and let it simmer for a bit, I wanted a thicker sauce so after it had simmered for about ten minutes I mixed some cornstarch with cold water and added it a bit at a time while stirring until the sauce reached the consistency I wanted.

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