Chicken Noodle Soup

 Very few things warm the soul and the body like a bowl of chicken noodle soup on a cold winter's day, or when you're under the weather.  

Ingredients:

4 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs (patted dry)

1 onion, chopped

4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

4 ribs of celery, sliced

2 qts chicken broth

2 cups water

2 Tbsp oil (canola or olive)

1/2 tsp thyme

3 bay leaves

1 clove garlic, minced

8oz (half a bag) of wide egg noodles

1 Tbsp parsley

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1.  Over medium high heat, add oil to a Dutch oven, or heavy bottomed soup pot.  Then place the thighs skin side down in the oil.  Cook thighs until golden browned skin (3-5 minutes) and then flip for an additional two minutes.  Remove to a plate.  Discard the majority of the drippings reserving 2-3 tablespoons.

2.  Add onion to drippings; cook and stir over medium-high heat until tender, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add broth, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil. Return chicken to pan. Add celery, carrots, bay leaves and thyme. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until chicken is tender, 25-30 minutes.

3.  Remove chicken to a plate or cutting board to cool.  Add noodles; covered, over low heat until noodles are tender, 20-22 minutes.

4.  When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones. Shred meat into bite-sized pieces. Return meat to stockpot. Stir in parsley and lemon juice. Adjust to taste with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaves.

Serve with some crusty bread and ENJOY!

Welsh Cakes

    As a child and on into adulthood, these simple, not very sweet, yet tasty treats were often in our home.  They were almost always in the cookie jar at Nana's when we went to visit too.  At home, my mom usually cooked them around Christmas to go to neighbors along with other treats such as, lemon bars, Michigan Rocks, peanut butter kiss cookies and raisin bread.  In my youthful days, I despised the welsh cakes with raisins!  I once thought they were chocolate chips in the cake, and it ruined those for me until well into adulthood.  I'm glad my mom taught me to make these before her stroke.  I can't make a batch without thinking of her now, and even as I prepare this post.  Miss you mom!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 cup of shortening 
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1¾ cups granulated sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 egg, room temp and beaten with the milk below
• 1½ cup milk (room temp)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients with your hands as if making a pie crust.  Next add the beaten egg and milk combination.  Stir with a spoon, don't beat.  Once blended, drop from a teaspoon onto greased cookie sheets.

My cousin, Kathy Peter, recently taught me to try a few cookies as a trial run to make sure the oven temp is right.  If it's right, you will bake the batches for about 13-15 minutes.  Browned, crisp bottoms are what you're looking for.

** after I cook half the batch, I add raisins to the batter and fold in.  Cook the same, but the teaspoon drops are a little bigger for these.

Enjoy!

Ginger Snaps

Ginger Snaps

One of my dad's favorite cookies was a ginger snap.  Although it took me many years to appreciate the flavor of a good ginger snap, my eldest son had affinity to these baked goods at a very young age.  This recipe is one that my father would have enjoyed immensely.  

Ingredients:

• ⅔ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup molasses (No moles are harmed in the making of these cookies)
• 1 egg, room temp
• 2 tsp. fresh gingerroot, peeled, minced
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• 3⅓ tsp ground ginger 
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream brown sugar with butter until light and fluffy.  Beat in molasses, egg and fresh ginger. 
2. In another bowl, combine flours, ground ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves; gradually add to the creamed butter bowl and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate until easy to handle (1 to 1½ hours) 
3. Preheat oven to 350◦F.  In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls; roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Place dough balls 3in apart on parchment lined baking sheets
4. Bake until set, 10-12 minutes.  Cool for a couple of minutes before removing from the pans to wire racks to finish cooling.  Store in airtight containers.

Enjoy!

Welsh Tea Biscuits

 The tea wafers are perfect for a holiday confection, or an anytime treat!  

Welshies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup golden raisins
• 2 Tbsp cognac, brandy, or apple juice (I prefer Hennessey's cognac!)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 
• 1¼ cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 2¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2½ tsp ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ⅓ cup (approximately) sliced almonds (I just stick a two or three into the top of each cookie prior to baking)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven - 375*F.   In a medium bowl combine cognac (or choice of liquid) with raisins to soak for about ten minutes.  Stir every couple minutes to soak up the "juice".

2. In a medium bowl add dry ingredients of- flour, 1½ teaspoons cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cloves.  Stir to combine.

3. In a large bowl add 1 cup of sugar and butter.  Beat until light and fluffy, then beat in egg.  Gradually add the flour mixture a little at a time until well blended.  Stir/fold in fruit and cognac mixture with a spoon using a spoon - not the beaters! 

4. In a small bowl or saucer combine the remaining ¼ cup of sugar and teaspoon of cinnamon.  Shape teaspoonfuls of dough into 1 inch balls; roll in cinnamon/sugar mixture to coat.  Place balls on ungreased cookie sheets 2 inches apart.

5. Using a smooth bottomed glass dipped into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, press each ball to ¼ inch thickness.  Press almond slices into the flattened cookie dough. 

6. Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove to wire racks to cool completely, then store in air tight containers.  These treats can be frozen for up to three months.

Enjoy!

Versatile Lentil Soup

Lentil Soup with turkey bacon

    This hearty soup is versatile.  For example, it is great served as a main dinner with some crusty bread, or it can be part of a soup & salad/sandwich offering.  You can also vary the ingredients.  This time I used turkey bacon, but next time I will be using a smoked turkey sausage sliced thin.  Instead of kale, substitute chopped spinach. Like most soups & stews, it's much better the next day!

Ingredients:

• Slices of turkey bacon, or thinly sliced smoked turkey sausage
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2-3 carrots, peeled, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp. cumin powder
• 3/4 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1lb bag of lentils, rinsed
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 2 quarts of chicken broth, or vegetable broth     (I used one of each)
• 1 bunch kale, stems removed, chopped (about 4 cups)
• salt & pepper to taste (a dash of red pepper flakes when serving is nice too

Directions:

In your soup pot or dutch oven, cook your bacon or sausage with a Tbsp of olive oil for a couple of minutes.  As it starts to brown, add remaining oil and onion, carrots, celery and salt & pepper.  Sauté over medium high heat for a 5-6 minutes to soften veggies.  Turn down heat if they start to brown to soon.  Next add the garlic, cumin, coriander and turmeric, cooking another 2-3 minutes stirring to blend.

Add lentils, tomatoes, broth and a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.  Increase heat bringing soup to a boil.  

While soup is heating up, chop the kale and add to the pot. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 30-40 minutes.

The soup is now ready to serve this way, but to make a thicker broth, I use an immersion blender for a few pulses in the pot and stir to mix.  If you don't have an immersion blender, remove a cup to cup and a half to a blender and puree.  return to the pot and stir.

* Not everyone in the house likes the same level of "heat".  I add a few shakes of red pepper flakes and a teaspoon of sour cream to my bowl.

Enjoy!