The Beer Cheese Soup Experiment

A few of my friends made comments today about Beer Cheese Soup, which immediately triggered a craving for Beer Cheese Soup. After ransacking my pantry and freezer, and Googling "beer cheese soup recipes," I stumbled upon several that I had most of the ingredients for. So, of course, I decided to wing it and see what I could make out of what I had. This is the result, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I served it with skillet-grilled kielbasa and baguette.

Beer Cheese Soup
1-1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
3/4 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 (12 oz) can or bottle light beer
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups half-and-half
1-1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups shredded mixed cheese -- I used a taco blend with Cheddar and Monterrey Jack 
1 tsp garlic salt (to taste)

Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and Worcestershire sauce and stir well. Add the beer and raise the heat to high and boil for 3 minutes to evaporate the alcohol. Add the chicken broth and bring the soup back to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer.

While the liquids are simmering, combine the cornstarch with 3 tbsp water and stir until smooth. Set aside.

Add the half-and-half and shredded cheese to the pot. Stir constantly until the cheese melts, using a whisk if necessary. Then stir in the cornstarch mixture. Stir constantly with a whisk until the soup is thick, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic salt to taste. Serve hot.

Snickerdoodles!

I love snickerdoodles -- they are my favorite cookie, and I've been having a massive craving for them. I like them soft, with a bit of chewiness to them. This recipe produces perfect cookies. I found it on Food.com, where it also receives rave reviews.

Snickerdoodles
1 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2-3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
3 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix butter, 1-1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture. Chill dough and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge. Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl. Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture. Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes. Remove from pan immediately.

Creamy Crockpot Tilapia

This is a recipe several friends of mine are fond of, and I've been hearing them talk about how yummy it is for years. It's from A Year of Slow Cooking. I kept putting off trying it because every time I make fish, I ruin it. Not this time. This recipe was so incredibly simple and so wonderfully tasty. Both my young sons gobbled it up and told me they loved it. My husband, who doesn't like fish, cleaned his plate as well. We'll definitely be making this again soon.
  

Creamy Crockpot Tilapia

3 or 4 fillets of tilapia (or other favorite white fish)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup shredded cheese, preferably Parmesan

juice of 2 lemons

4 chopped garlic cloves

pinch each of salt and black pepper



Mix all ingredients except for the fish in a bowl. Lay out a piece of foil. Rub a generous amount of the sauce mixture on both sides of the fish. Fold the foil over and make a little packet for the fish. Place the packets into the crockpot and cook on LOW for 2-4 hours; fish should flake easily with a fork. Take care when taking the packets out of the crockpot and when opening -- they will be hot.

Chicken Pot Pie

Photo taken with my iPhone. @modernsimplicty

Yesterday was cloudy and a bit dreary, and I had a craving for chicken pot pie. Thankfully, I was able to dig out a super easy version that tasted great, with only about 10 minutes prep time and 30 minutes in the oven.

Chicken Pot Pie
1-1/2 cups frozen mixed veggies
1-1/2 cups chopped chicken
1 10-3/4 oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup Original Bisquick mix
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400F. In a skillet, saute chicken until fully cooked. Mix chicken and frozen veggies in ungreased 9-inch glass pie pan. Stir together soup, Bisquick, milk and egg with a fork until combined and pour over chicken and veggies. Bake uncovered 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Pressure Cooker: Chicken and Dumplings

I've been wanting to make Chicken and Dumplings for years, but I could never seem to get it right. This pressure cooker version came out very tasty, and I'll definitely be making it again and fine-tuning the recipe! I'm still looking for a reliable crockpot version, so please pass it along if you have one!

PC Chicken and Dumplings
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 large chicken breasts, whole
2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1-1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup shredded carrot
2-1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1 can buttermilk biscuits

Combine flour, salt and pepper, and coat chicken lightly with flour mixture. Melt half the butter in the pressure cooker on Browning mode, then cook chicken 5-6 minutes on each side to brown. Transfer chicken to platter and melt remaining butter, then select Saute mode. Add onions, celery, bell pepper, and thyme and cook until the onions are translucent.  Stir in carrots, chicken broth, wine, parsley and bay leaf and return chicken to the pot. Cover and lock lid in place. Select High Pressure and set timer for 10 minutes. When the timer sounds, use the Quick Pressure Release to release the pressure and remove lid carefully once pressure is released fully. Remove bay leaf. Select the Saute mode. Open the can of biscuits and tear each biscuit in half, rolling each half into a ball and dropping it into the pot. When all the biscuits are in the pot, cover loosely and cook for 10-15 minutes on Saute mode, until the dumplings are puffed and thoroughly cooked. 

Pressure Cooker: 16-Bean Soup

I got a really nice Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker for Christmas, and this bean soup was my first ever attempt at pressure cooking. I was nervous -- I'd heard all the stories about pressure cookers blowing up, sending soup and stew all over the ceiling. This was amazingly simple though, and the result was some of the best bean soup I've ever had. I'm actually looking forward to leftovers today!

PC 16-Bean Soup

5-6 slices bacon, sliced into 1/2 inch chunks

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 lb dried 16-bean soup variety beans (I buy them in the bulk bin at the natural food store)

6oz can tomato paste

1 can diced tomatoes with juice

Salt, pepper, Lawry's Seasoning to taste

In an electric pressure cooker, sauté chopped onion and sliced bacon in olive oil until the onion is clear. Add the dried beans and tomato paste and cover with water, about 2" over the beans. Secure the lid and turn on high pressure for 35 minutes. When the time is up, use the quick pressure release,  add diced tomatoes and season to taste. Simmer 5 minutes and serve. Makes 10-12 servings.

Note: To make this soup vegetarian, simply omit the bacon.