Paula Deen has struck again

My mother-in-law gets me a subscription to Cooking with Paula Deen every year for Christmas.  Talk about a gift that my whole family has benefited from!  I love it!  And the January/February issue this year has been the source of my last three recipe posts!  Sooo good!  This is actually a slight variation on her 'Individual Chicken pot Pies'.
As is usually the case, I have been making Chicken Pot Pie for years now, but have not been entirely happy with the outcome.... until now!  All I'm going to preface this recipe with is this, it has bacon in it... I know, right?! 

Chicken Pot Pie
2 T butter
3 1/4 lbs bone-in chicken breasts, skinned (about 3)
1 3/4 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 slices bacon
1 (8oz) packaged sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, green beans)
2 crust pie-crust
1 large egg

Melt butter in large skillet and saute onion and celery.  Boil chicken in water, remove and shred.  Fry bacon, remove and saute mushrooms.  Combine onions, celery, chicken, soup, bacon, mushrooms, pepper, salt, flour and frozen vegetables.  Stir and turn off heat.  Prepare pie plate with pie crust.  Pour in filling, add top crust and brush with egg white.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.  Watch closely in last 5 minutes to prevent burning.  Let sit for 10 minutes upon removing from the oven.

Red Beans and Rice Soup

This is supposed to be made with a pressure cooker - if I had one that would be awesome.  I just sauteed where necessary and then put it in the crockpot for the day.  Then, of course made the rice just before serving.  Huge hit.  My man loved it and he's actually not a huge fan of soup. 

Red Beans and Rice Soup
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 (16 oz.) package smoked sausage, sliced
2 cups chopped green bell pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp Creole seasoning
5 cups chicken broth
1 (16 oz) package dried light red kidney beans, soaked overnight (I used the quick soak method), drained and rinsed
2 bay leaves
4 cups hot cooked rice

Heat a 6 qt pressure cooker over medium heat.  Add bacon, and cook for 6 minutes or until crisp.  Add sausage, bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic, and Creole seasoning; cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes or until onion starts to soften.  Stir in chicken broth, beans, and bay leaves.
Secure lid on cooker, and bring to high pressure over high heat.  Immediately reduce heat to low to maintain pressure, and cook for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat, and use natural-release method.  Remove and discard bay leaves.  Serve soup with rice.

BTW, this was Paula Deen again (January/February 2012).

I gave up

I have given up on trying to produce a chilli that My Man AND my children both enjoy.  Maryanna thinks toothpaste and peppermint gum are spicy.  My Man adds jalopenos OR tobasco sauce to everything.  He adds dime size dobs of wasabi to EVERY BITE of his sushi.  It's impossible.

So.  I gave up.

And now I am going to start making two pots of chili whenever I serve it.  And guess what.  I found this amazing sweet chili that I love!  I'll post that recipe another day.  Today I want to talk about the chili I found for My Man.

Ok, so this is my process.  If I can't find a recipe for whatever I'm looking for made by the Pioneer Woman or Paula Deen I go to TastyKitchen.com or allrecipes.com.  And when I searched for spicy chili I found this particular recipe on both of those sites under two different names.  With high ratings.
 
And it was a winner.  I've got just a couple of different things i'd like to try in it, but I've only made it once.  So, without further ado.

Halloween Chili aka The Boilermaker
2 pounds ground beef chuck

1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer (I'm going to try an ale next time)
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.


Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.

To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

This smelled amazing while it cooked.  Can't wait to make it again!
 

This Salad is Fantastic!

Once again, I've picked up a recipe from the Pioneer Woman.  This one caught my eye as a break from the norm.  Really awesome.  Not sure how good it is for you with all of the bacon grease, but it might just be worth it : )

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

As always, in a pinch I just google Paula. This is what I got, and the ladies at the Bible Study were asking for the recipe!

Spinach and Bacon Quiche

6 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
salt and pepper
2 chps chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate (see my pie crust recipe)

Preheat to 375

Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper in blender. Layer the spinach, bacon, and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. Cut into 8 wedges.

Spinach Salad

My mother-in-law introduced us to this salad one weekend at the lake. And I discovered that I could eat salad like nobody. The homemade dressing makes it.

Spinach Salad

Strawberries (about 20 large) cleaned, cut in half or quartered
Red grapes (washed, halved)
Almonds (slivered) 1/2 cup
Bacon (fried crisp, crumbled)
Sliced red or vadalia onion - 3-4 slices (I often leave this one out)
1 bag baby spinach

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Worcestershire

Baked Beans

In honor of summer, I thought this ought to be my next recipe post. Again, I can't take credit for this one (I think you'll find I can't take credit for any of them, I just collected them all). My mother-in-law made me a wonderful binder of all of their family favorites when I got married. This one was included and I'm told it is a dear friend's great-grandfather's. Enjoy!

2 15 ounce cans pork and beans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup bbq sauce (Hubby prefers Gates)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dry mustard
bacon strips
ketchup

Mix together beans, brown sugar, molasses, bbq sauce, onion and dry mustard.

Place half the beans in a 1 quart casserole. Top with bacon strips. Then, add the remaining beans and top with more bacon strips.

Spread ketchup on top and bake at 350 for 2-3 hours (longer the better).

Let set about 45 minutes before serving.

*Smoked ham in place of the bacon in the middle is great. Continue to use the bacon on top.