Bean Soup with Ham

Do you remember Bill Knapp's Restaurant?  I sure do... My husband and I always loved going there.  I have fond memories of going there as a child, working there as a waitress just out of high school, and going there for dinner while I was in labor with my first child (hey, a girl has to eat!).  Here is a recipe that my sister and I came up with that rivals Bill Knapp's bean soup.  If you remember that soup and miss it, well be sure to make this one and enjoy your trip down memory lane...

Ingredients:
1 pkg. dry Northern beans
8 C. cold water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C. carrots, diced
1 C. celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
2 bay leaves
2 C. ham, diced
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper

Rinse beans thoroughly, removing any stones or bad beans.  Place water in a large stockpot and bring to a boil over high heat.  Add salt and beans and cover with lid.  Remove from heat and let stand for 1 hour.  Return to high heat and add remaining ingredients, except ham.  Bring to a boil and cook for 2 hours, or until beans are tender.

Stir in ham and simmer for 30 more minutes.  At this point the soup should have thickened a bit.  Add more white pepper and salt as needed.  Remove that bay leaves before serving. This recipe serves 8-10.

Blueberry Pie

My husband loves blueberry pie.  I love blueberries.  We have a beautiful blueberry farm here in Dexter http://dexterblueberry.com/default.aspx and I can spend hours there during July and August. That being said, on my last visit I managed to walk away with 34 pounds of big fat berries that were just screaming to be turned into a delicious dessert. This recipe is being made gluten free so that my husband can enjoy it, but it can easily be changed using all-purpose flour.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

 

Filling Ingredients:

6 C. blueberries

1 C. granulated sugar

4 Tbsp.  Tom Sawyer GF Flour Mix

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 Tbsp freshly grated lemon peel

In a large bowl stir flour, sugar, nutmeg and lemon peel together, add berries and toss to coat.  Let stand for 15 minutes.  Pour into pie crust. (see below) and place on baking sheet.  Cover edge with pie guard or aluminum foil. Bake for 50 minutes.  Remove foil; bake for 20 to 30 minutes more or till the top is golden and the fruit mixture is bubbly.  Cool on a wire rack before serving.

Double Pastry Crust:

3 C. Tom Sawyer GF Flour Mix 

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 C. cold butter, cubed

1/2 C.vegetable shortening

2 egg yolks

2 tsp. vinegar

ice water

In a large bowl, combine flour with salt.  Cut in butter and shortening, blending until crumbled.  Whisk egg yolks with vinegar; add enough ice water to make 2/3 cup.  Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir with a fork until it holds together, adding a bit more flour if necessary.  Press into two disk shapes; wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for one hour until well chilled.

Remove dough from fridge and flour your work surface.  Roll each disk into a large circle, approximately 1/4 inch thick.  Transfer dough to a 9 inch pie plate and press into plate (this can be a difficult task with GF dough as it breaks apart, but fear not.  If this happens you need to work quickly to press several pieces of dough into the pie plate until formed together). Prick bottom and sides with a fork. 

Gently transfer remaining dough and cover the pie filling, crimping edges to seal dough (if using the GF recipe I have found that this task requires two people in order to keep the dough from tearing). Use any remaining scrapes of dough to make shapes to decorate the top of the pie.  Brush crust with egg wash (egg whisked with a couple drops of cold water) and sprinkle with sugar.

Pepper Shrimp

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
4 Tbsp. butter
12 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, chopped
1 1/2 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
1/8 tsp. salt and pepper

Place shrimp shells in saucepan and cover with water, add salt and pepper.  Cook on high heat for 15 minutes to create stock. Remove shells and set aside.

Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in large saute pan over medium high heat, add spices and garlic.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add mushrooms and green onions, cook and stir for 5 minutes.  

Add shrimp and cook for approximately 3 minutes, until no longer pink.  

Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.  Increase heat to high and pour in shrimp stock.  Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.  In a separate pan melt 5 Tbsp. butter and whisk in 2 Tbsp. flour. Add to mushroom mixture and stir until blended.  Return shrimp to the pan and cook for 1 minutes over low heat.  

Serve over rice.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Ingredients:
2 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. red food coloring (1 oz. bottle)
1 can cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat, set aside.  In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high for 30 seconds.  Beat in brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, beating after each addition just until combined.  Gently stir in food coloring.

Spoon batter in 1 or 2 inch diameter rounds, about 1/2 inch high on prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart.  Bake for 8 minutes and remove to a baking rack to cool.  After cooled, spread a small amount of frosting on flat side of cookie and sandwich with another cookie.  Wrap frosted pies individually in plastic wrap.  Store in container.

Mexican Pizza

While many of us sit around the TV this afternoon watching the Nascar Daytona 500 (go Gordon!) we are looking for good food to snack on.  Here is a recipe that I think is fun, it combines the great taste of tacos with the ease of pizza.

Ingredients:
1 large Boboli Pizza Crust
3/4 cup refried beans
1/2 cup red enchilada sauce
1 cup ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
3/4 cup water
2 cups Mexican blend cheese
Cilantro, chopped
Green Onion, diced
Diced Tomato
Shredded lettuce

Cook and drain ground beef, add taco seasoning and water and cook on high until bubbling, then turn down heat to low for 3 minutes until thickened.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Heat beans and spread a thin layer over crust.  Top with enchilada sauce and cheese (use more or less as desired).  Add green onion and cilantro and bake until bubbly.  Top with shredded lettuce and diced tomato.

Starting Fresh

Well, it has been awhile since I last posted a new recipe.  It's not that I haven't been cooking (my waistline can confirm that!) but rather I haven't been blogging about what I have been cooking because quite frankly, I have been in a cooking funk.  Everything seems bland and mundane.  I have gotten so tired of the same family favorites.  It is time to reclaim the kitchen and freshen up my recipe box.  I have decided that I will post regularly, I will try new recipes and post the best ones, and I want to buy a new digital camera so I can take photos of my creations (although I warn you all, I am not a photographer so this will not be a layout for a food magazine - I do not claim to be another Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ because if you have ever been to her site you will be in awe of her beautiful postings).

So I hope you come back and try some of my recipes, post comments (even the bad ones) and even share some of your favorites with me and I can post them on here for you! 

Let's Eat!