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My mom tells me that this originated as a Weight Watchers recipe, so if you have a certain new year's resolution to keep, this soup will keep you in line. She jazzed it up with the onion, celery, and Cajun seasoning, which departed from the original recipe, but those additions only made it better. (Half a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning doesn't sound like much, but it adds a considerable kick to this big pot of soup. Remember that you can always add more seasoning, but you can't take it out once it's in. Start small.)
My mom also told me for probably about a year how good this soup was, but I was wholeheartedly not interested. For whatever reason, nothing about it sounded appealing.
I was so wrong.
This really is very good and satisfying. You can make it with ground turkey or lean ground beef; you won't be able to taste the difference. It's a hearty soup, so feel free to add more broth if you don't want it to be so thick. This warm, healthy soup is perfect for cold, rainy evenings. A warm bowl of soup has the power to lift your spirits besides raising your body temperature. Try it once, and you'll see how very good it is.
Turkey Vegetable Soup
1 lb ground turkey (or lean ground beef)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1 (12oz) can V8 juice
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can original Rotel tomatoes
1 can Veg-All (liquid drained)
1 (14oz) can chicken broth
1/4 to 1/2 tsp Tony Chachere's Seasoning (or other Cajun seasoning)
Brown turkey, celery, and green onions slowly in a pot sprayed with cooking spray. Add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients, and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Serve warm with cornbread.
Here's handsome Teak, sitting in front of our Christmas tree.
No, somehow I haven't taken it down yet.
Yes, I'm going to get on that ASAP.
I lived in Texas for two glorious years before moving to Georgia, but unforunately I wasn't lucky enough or in-the-know enough to order a plate of migas for breakfast while living there.
Don't know about migas? I didn't either. Here are some good explanations from the Homesick Texan or Pioneer Woman, but I can tell you, too: it's a tasty breakfast dish with eggs designed to use up stale tortillas. The recipe below is another one I adapted from the Homesick Texan cookbook.
Both explanations above note that the eggs are not scrambled; you wait for the eggs to set on the bottom and then do some gentle folding. However, my folding turned into scrambling, but I don't think the end result suffered. The stale tortillas (you can use fresh ones, too) are cut into strips and fried, and in the original dish, they're stirred into the eggs while they're cooking, which softens their texture. Well, if I'm going to the trouble to fry something (I had the baking soda box next to the skillet--one grease fire is enough for me, thank you very much), I want it to be crunchy, so I made the tortilla strips a bed for the eggs to sit on. I only used a few tablespoons of canola oil, and the strips were nice and crispy in just a minute or two. If you don't want to fry the tortilla strips, I'm sure you could bake them or even just use tortilla chips.
The finished product was completely delicious. We had this as our first meal of 2012, and we were both very happy and satisfied. Try this on your next lazy weekend morning; you won't regret it.
Migas--Georgia Style
Oil, for frying
2 tortillas, cut into strips
1/4 medium yellow onion, diced
10 pickled jalapeno slices
4 eggs
Splash of milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
1/4 tsp cumin
3-4 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup (2oz) grated Cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Pepper Jack cheese
Salsa, for serving
In a large skillet, preferably a cast-iron skillet, heat a few tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Place tortilla strips into skillet, cooking until crisp, turning once. Remove tortilla strips with a slotted spoon and place on a paper-towel-lined plate.
Drain the oil from the skillet, leaving 2 tablespoons, and turn down the heat to medium. Add the onions and jalapenos to the skillet, cooking while occasionally stirring until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes. While this is cooking, whisk the eggs in a bowl with the milk, salt, pepper, cumin, and cilantro.
After the onions and jalapenos are cooked, add the garlic to the skillet and cook for 30 more seconds. Add the egg mixture. Gently stir the eggs; when almost done, sprinkle cheese on top of eggs, and let the eggs sit until the cheese has melted.
Place tortilla strips on a plate, and serve eggs on top. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with salsa.
I was so excited when my sister gave me this Homesick Texan Cookbook for Christmas! I already like the Homesick Texan blog, so I knew the cookbook was going to be great. I started marking recipes immediately.
This salsa took just a couple of minutes to throw together, and we really liked it. We had it on our nachos, with our eggs, and on and on. It makes 3 1/2 cups though, which is a huge amount of salsa (even for us, and we eat a good bit of it), so you might want to cut the recipe in half. Her recipe notes that it keeps for a week in the refrigerator.
Homesick Texan Salsa
1 (28oz) can of crushed tomatoes
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup cilantro
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp cumin
1/4 to 1/2 cup pickled jalapeno slices
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Salt, to taste
Place all ingredients except the salt into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings and add salt to taste.
Check out those mallards. Way to go, Buck and Teak!
This recipe is quick, easy, and absolutely delicious. It takes no time to throw together--just a little while to bake. It's decadent (just like anything with whipping cream), and it's delightful. This is a family favorite for us!
Gratin Potatoes
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 qt whipping cream
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
Layer potato slices in a buttered 9"x13" baking dish. Combine other ingredients, and pour mixture over potatoes.
Bake at 400 for 50 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and mixture is bubbly and golden. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful 2011, and I hope 2012 will bring even more blessings.
I probably should have posted this Christmas Bark recipe last week, but I was having too much fun with my family to worry about that. Besides, Christmas isn't the only time of year you can make this. If you're sticking to your new year's resolutions to be healthier, just bookmark this recipe until you've changed your mind a bit. It's worth it.
Christmas Bark
1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 (12oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
Place crackers in one layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet with sides. Melt butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. After it comes to a bubble, cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour butter-sugar mixture over the crackers. Spread evenly. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate morsels. When they start to melt, spread evenly over entire layer of crackers. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top; refrigerate 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and crack into pieces.
