Carrot Broccoli Soup

A family favorite...

• 2 tablespoons finely minced onion
• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 2 cups milk
• 4 cups canned chicken broth (broth made with bullion cubes makes it too salty)
• 10 oz package chopped broccoli (or 2 cups fresh chopped broccoli)
• 2 cups grated carrots

Cook broccoli and carrots in chicken broth until just tender. Set aside. Saute onion in butter. Add flour and salt. Mix to smooth past. Gradually add milk and just bring to a boil to thicken. When ready to serve blend broth mixture with milk mixture and reheat if needed. Be careful not to boil as soup will separate and not look as attractive. It will still taste good though.

The Joys of Multi-generational Living

The late summer brought a lot of changes to our household as we mourned the loss of my father-in-law, welcomed my mother-in-law, as well as our son, Scott, his wife Meg and their son, Timothy into our home and brought Elisa home from a summer at Delanco. Scott and his family will be staying with us until they go to Uganda, East Africa, as missionaries with World Gospel Mission in about a year. My mother-in-law is with us indefinitely. and Elisa is home until another camp season or until she leaves for college, whichever comes first!

One of the joys of lots of people in the house is sharing the cooking. It's nice after nearly 30 years of marriage to have someone take a turn as head chef. Meg served will in that role at a recent dinner party for 10. She made a great Chicken Florentine recipe from "Simple and Delicious", a Reiman publication. Served with bread hot from the oven and a salad brought by a guest, the meal was just right! The recipe, with Meg's adaptations is below. You can get the original recipe at Taste of Home

SERVINGS: 6

CATEGORY: Main Dish

METHOD: Other stovetop

TIME: Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon sherry or chicken broth+ up to 1 cup additional chicken broth
  
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Flatten chicken to 1/2-in. thickness. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the Parmesan cheese, basil and oregano. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat.
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in 2 tablespoons butter for 4-5 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. Remove and keep warm.
In the same skillet, saute onions and garlic in remaining butter for 2-3 minutes or until tender. Gradually add flour and salt; stir in milk and sherry or broth until blended. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in spinach and cheese and sour cream, thinning the sauce as needed with additional chicken broth; heat through.
Remove from the heat. Pour sauce over cooked pasta and serve. Yield: 6 servings.

Peach Muffins II

Some time ago I developed an allergy to cinnamon, which is kind of sad since many of the best recipes include this fragrant spice. I've adapted one of our favorites, Peach Muffins, so that I can still enjoy them with the family.
Makes 12 muffins
Oven temp: 400 °

• ½ cup milk
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup vegetable oil or melted butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  

Preheat oven to 400 °. Grease bottoms of 12 standard muffin cups (2 ¾ inches in diameter), spray with cooking spray or use foil or silicone muffin cups. Fruit muffins stick to paper muffin cups.

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl.In a mixing bowl, beat egg well. Stir in milk and oil, Mix in dry ingredients just until flour is moistened. Gently stir in optional ingredients. Batter should be lumpy.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. I use the largets cookie scoop for evenly sized muffins. Bake 20-25 mminutes or until golden brown. Let stand in pan 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.

Garlic Grilled Shrimp

This is one of my favorites to order in a restaurant. Today I thought that I would try and imitate it so I made a simple vinaigrette and went from there. It was every bit as good as the restaurant and I fed three people shrimp, fresh Jersey corn on the cob and French bread for less than the price of one restaurant meal!

Garlic Grilled Shrimp
Marinate 6-8 jumbo shrimp per person (16-21 shrimp per pound) in a vinaigrette made from:
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon crushed or minced garlic.

Marinate at least one hour. While they are marinating, soak wooden skewers in warm water.

Thread shrimp on soaked skewers. Grill 3-5 minutes per side. Serve immediately.

Our Daily Bread

There is nothing lovelier than walking into a kitchen that is rich with the aroma of fresh bread. I bake bread often, but not every day. At our house we prefer a bread rich in wheat germ, but based on white flour. This is my favorite recipe... I dump everything in the kitchen aid and mix it up.

(basic dough for loaves or rolls)
Adapted from LLL’s “Whole Foods for Whole Families”
Makes 2 loaves of bread or 48 rolls.
Oven Temp: 350°

• 2 cups warm water
• 1-2 cups dry milk (optional)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 to 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 6-7 cups flour

Mix all ingredients, except for 3 cups flour until batter is smooth. Add remaining flour and knead with dough hook for about 8 minutes. Use the larger amount of flour if you use four eggs.

Let rise about one hour. Shape into loaves or rolls. Place in baking pans. This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread or 48 rolls. Let rise about 1 hour ( a little less for rolls. Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes for bread; 30 minutes for rolls.

Cooking for Two

Before our house fills up again in September Dave and I will experience a season practicing for an empty nest. Jack has his own apartment, Elisa, Scott, Meg and Tim will all be at camp and we will be home alone! It has its good points as well as the bad.

One drawback I have discovered is that after feeding a family for 28 years I don't know how to cook for two. Nor do I have any casseroles or baking dishes that are right for two portions. I tried to make a casserole today and it looks like we will be having wild rice and chicken at lunch for a while! I was wanting something warm and creamy for dinner since here on the 4th of June it is 62 degrees F! So with the ingredients I had on hand, this is what I came up with.


Wild Rice and Chicken Casserole

• 1 package of wild rice mix
• 1/2 cup long grain rice
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1-2 cups cooked chicken
• 1 package steamer vegetables
• 1 8 oz. package grated Swiss cheese
• 1/4 tsp. dill

Microwave rice mix, seasoning and rice 12 minutes on high power, then 20 minutes on 50% power.

Microwave one package of Steamer veggies of your choice. I used a broccoli, carrot, edamame mix.

Mix the hot rice and vegetables with some cooked chicken, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup chicken broth, dill and 8 oz. grated Swiss cheese. Top with buttered bread crumbs if you like them. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes until the sauce us bubbly.

This makes enough food for 4-6 people... definitely overestimated on that one! But it is a filling dish that stretches a little bit of chicken.

Allspice Muffins

Kelly shared this recipe with me a while ago. I m not sure where it came from, but here is is with my modifications. These are very sweet dessert type muffins, not everyday breakfast fare, but absolutely delicious!

For the streusel:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
5 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

For the muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
½ tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 lemon

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Center a rack in the oven. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

To make the streusel topping, put the flour, brown sugar and allspice in a small bowl. Sift together with a fork. Add the bits of cold butter and toss to coat, then use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until you’ve got irregularly shaped crumbs. (I would do this in the mixer or food processor.) Set aside in the refrigerator.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, allspice and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. Stir in the lemon zest.

In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla together until well combined.

Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently but quickly stir to blend with the whisk or a rubber spatula; the batter will be somewhat lumpy.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle some streusel over each muffin, then use your fingertips to gently press the crumbs into the batter.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins to the wire rack and allow to cool completely.