Ranch Style Chicken and Rice Soup

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 stalk of celery, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh minced garlic
3 cups cooked rice (about 1 cup raw)
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 heaping Tbsp instant chicken bouillon
8-10 cups water
1 Tablespoon dry Ranch Dressing mix
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce, like Tabasco

Heat oil into a large dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, saute the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides. Remove and set aside to cool. Stir onion, carrots and celery into remaining oil and saute for 7-10 minutes or until softened slightly. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add Ranch dressing mix and mustard. Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks and stir into the the vegetables. Add bouillon, water and salt and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes. Add rice and hot sauce. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Very tasty! John loved it and went back for seconds.

Adapted from recipe found at http://pickypalate.com

Almond Cream Puff Ring

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix  (I used Cheesecake flavor pudding!)

1 1/4 cups milk (and I only used 1 cup milk instead of 1 1/4)

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

1 teaspoon almond extract

                   

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoons milk

1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour a cookie sheet, or use parchment paper. Using a dinner plate as a guide, trace a circle on the sheet.               

In a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, combine water, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil. With a wooden spoon, vigorously stir in flour all at once, until mixture forms a ball, and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from heat, and beat in the eggs one at a time, until mixture is smooth. Drop batter into 10 mounds inside the circle traced on the cookie sheet, to form a ring.                

Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn off oven, leaving ring in for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool on wire rack. When cool, slice in half horizontally, and place bottom ring on serving plate. Spoon Almond Cream Filling on bottom ring, then replace top ring. Chill in refrigerator.               

To make Almond Cream Filling: Prepare pudding according to instructions on package, but use only 1 1/4 cups milk. Fold in whipped cream, and 1 teaspoon almond extract.              

To make Chocolate Glaze: In a double boiler over hot (not boiling) water, combine chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons milk, and 1 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup. Heat until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. Spoon over the top of chilled ring.               

Very good! 

Cathy's Favorite New Years Greens

I hate Greens.  Truly.  But every year of my life Greens are on the menu for New Year's Day.  It's tradition.  As a Southerner you are obliged to eat them to ensure a prosperous new year.  So I would choke down a few bites every year until I had about as much wealth as I thought I could stand and then I would have a whole year before having to face them again. 

But this year, I have finally found THE recipe for this disgusting vegetable dish that I actually (gasp!) LIKED!!!  Thanks to Rachael Ray for the inspiration!  She's my hero! (heroine?)  Here's my adaptation of her recipe for "Smoky Greens with Cranberries", henceforth to be known as "Cathy's Favorite New Years Greens"!

2 pkgs frozen turnip greens
1 pkg frozen turnip greens with diced turnips
32 oz carton chicken broth
1 smoked pork neckbone (about the size of your fist)
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 heaping tbsp brown sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
A handful for dried cranberries

In a large stockpot, combine the chicken broth, nutmeg, brown sugar, salt and pepper.  Add the neckbone and the greens and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer until as done as you like them (about an hour at my house!).  Stir in the cranberries and cook until they plump up a bit.  That's it.  You're done!

And these are really, really good!  I could eat these more than once a year - and I intend to!  Rachael's recipe actually called for Kale, but Publix was completely out of those - however, I'll be trying them in this dish soon!  Happy New Year!  Mine's gonna be PROSPEROUS! 

Cafe Rio Chicken

2 lbs chicken breasts
1/2 a small bottle of zesty italian dressing
1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

Place all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on High 5-6 hours OR on Low 8 hours. Shred with fork and serve in salads, burritos, tacos…etc. You can also double or triple this to make extras for freezing. Then simply thaw and reheat for a lickity split meal.

This is really good and really easy!  The chicken was juicy, tender and delicious!  I served these Burrito style tonight but it would be great in a salad or with rice & beans! 

From Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms.

Cinnamon Cheesecake

Crust:
1-1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tbsp brown sugar

Filling:
3 pkgs (8 oz each)Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup Sour Cream
1 heaping Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 extra-large eggs + 1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 325^ F.

Mix graham crumbs, butter and brown sugar; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add sour cream, flour and cinnamon; mix well. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Cheesecake is not my favorite dessert, but John loves the stuff and he says this was a winner! IMO, as cheesecakes go, this one was pretty good. I would have liked the crust to be a bit crunchier, but it'll do. I served it with a bit of the Blue Cranberry Sauce I made earlier spooned over each slice.

Next Day:  This cheesecake is REALLY good the next day.  I suggest making it ahead of time from now on!

I don't remember where I found the recipe, but I think it might have been on the Philadelphia Cream Cheese webpage. Or maybe Honey Maid graham crackers.

Foolproof Rib Roast

1 (5 pound) standing beef rib roast
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Allow roast to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the salt, pepper and garlic powder in a small cup. Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan so that the fatty side is up and the rib side is on the bottom. Rub the seasoning onto the roast.

Roast for 1 hour in the preheated oven. Turn the oven off and leave the roast inside. Do not open the door. Leave it in there for 3 hours. 30 to 40 minutes before serving, turn the oven back on at 375 degrees F. to reheat the roast. The internal temperature should be at least 145 degrees F.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before carving into servings.

This truly is a foolproof way to cook a rib roast. I've made this several times since finding this Paula Deen recipe on foodnetwork.com and it's always juicy, tender and perfectly cooked!

Sunday Gravy and Macaroni (Spaghetti, Really)

1 pound spaghetti
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 thin cut pork loin chops, 1/2-inch thick
Salt and pepper
2 each sweet and hot Italian sausage links
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup Marsala
1 pound meat loaf mix, ground beef, pork and veal combined
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for tossing pasta and to pass at table
1 loaf crusty Italian bread, heated just before serving to crisp crust

Heat a deep skillet or medium heavy bottomed sauce pot over medium high heat. Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Remove skin and cut sausages into 1" chunks. Add 1 tablespoon, 1 turn of the pan, extra-virgin olive oil to pan or pot. Place chops in pan or pot and brown 2 minutes on each side, remove. Add another tablespoon oil, 1 turn of the pan, and sausages. Brown sausages 2 minutes on each side and transfer to plate with pork. Add pepper flakes, 3 cloves chopped garlic and onion to the pot and saute 1 minute. Add broth to the pan and scrape up drippings. Add tomatoes and herbs and bring sauce to a bubble. Add meats back to the pot and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer sauce over a very low heat for a couple of hours, gently stirring every once in a while.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Lightly mix the ground meat, mayo, garlic salt, 1/4 cup cheese and some black pepper. Gently roll into balls, 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. Place balls on nonstick cookie sheet. Roast meatballs 10 minutes, then slide into Sunday sauce.

In the meantime, heat water for pasta to a boil. Salt and cook pasta 7 to 8 minutes, to al dente.

To serve, place pork, sausages and meatballs on serving dish. Pour 1/2 of the sauce into a serving dish to ladle over pasta and meats at the table. Toss cooked spaghetti with remaining sauce in sauce pot, adding a few handfuls of grated cheese to the pot as you toss it. Transfer pasta to a serving dish.

Adapted from the Rachael Ray recipe. This stuff is GOOD!