Vegetable Cheese Soup

Here is yet another soup from the WW Recipe Review board. I usually make it with California style veggies and light Velveeta. But for some reason I could not find the California vegetable mix at the store. I selected Italian style as a substitute. As far as the Velveeta goes, I have been hearing lots of hype about a shortage and even more comments about it being fake cheese. So I attempted to use a blend of shredded cheese. I saw a copycat recipe that used a blend of Colby jack, cheddar and Swiss. So I used one cup of Colby jack and three fourths a cup of both cheddar and Swiss. I really liked the flavor more than Velveeta but when it comes to melting you can beat Velveeta. The cheese did melt sort of, but it had some stringy ribbons of cheese that did not. I think Velveeta is the way to go for this soup. I may try one more time in the future. I read that adding a little flour or cornstarch to the cheese will help it melt into soups. We will see? I used the homemade chicken broth from the chicken I poached for the Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps. It was so good! Here the the garlic flavor of the broth added so much to the soup. I will use homemade stock again in the future. This is a great cheesy vegetable soup. I look forward to another cup for lunch tomorrow.

Vegetable Cheese Soup

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

2 lbs. frozen mixed vegetables (California mix, Italian blend, etc.)
4 cups fat-free low sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz.) can mild Rotel tomatoes
10 oz. light Velveeta cheese or mix of 2% shredded cheese (cheddar, Colby jack and Swiss)

Directions

Put first 3 ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add the cheese, stirring to melt the cheese. When heated through, serve.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Call Me PMc: Marvelous Mondays Link Party
Tumbleweed Contessa: What'd You Do This Weekend?
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
Memories by the Mile: Treasure Box Tuesday
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Love Bakes Good Cakes: The Ultimate Soup Recipe List Linky

Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

I am really fond of lettuce wraps these days. They are fresh, crisp and low carb. Lettuce wraps are a great way to scoop up both warm and cold fillings. I decided this weekend to update an old Curried Chicken Salad recipe and use it as a filling for a lettuce wrap. The original recipe was from a Weight Watchers cookbook. It was an open faced sandwich we use to make with canned chicken. For this wrap, I wanted to learn how to poach the chicken. I turned to Rachael Ray for a recipe and she did not disappoint. Rachael's Poached Chicken is full of flavor, tender and moist. The secret is she lets the chicken cool in the poaching liquid. Using her recipe I had four perfectly poach chicken breasts for my wraps and two quarts of chicken broth for future soups. This is definitely a method I will use in the future. The chicken was perfect in the Curried Chicken Salad. I love this combination of chicken, apples, grapes and curry. I used a homemade curry powder I saw on the Dr. Oz show. But you can use a store bought curry powder too, I have in the past. It adds a warm spice to the yogurt-mayo dressing that complements the sweet, tart flavors of the grapes and apples. This salad is great as a lettuce wrap. It makes for a nice fresh and filling meal, an update worth making again real soon.

Curried Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. light mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. plain non fat Greek yogurt
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp curry powder
8 oz. skinned and boned poached chicken, diced
1 small apple, diced
12 large seedless green grapes, cut into quarters
Dash each salt, white pepper and cayenne
4 lettuce leaves

Chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

In medium bowl combine mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice, and curry powder. Stir in chicken, apple, and grapes; season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Spoon a fourth of the chicken salad into each lettuce leaf. Garnish with pecans (optional).

Curry Powder

Source: Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary as seen on Dr. Oz

Ingredients

5 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 large bay leaf
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 small (1.5 inch) piece of a cinnamon stick
5 cloves
2 tsp turmeric powder (reserve for later)

Directions

Grind all of the above ingredients, except for the turmeric powder, in a coffee grinder. Afterward, add 2 tsp of the turmeric powder. Mix all ingredients together.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Call Me PMc: Marvelous Mondays Link Party
Tumbleweed Contessa: What'd You Do This Weekend?
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
Memories by the Mile: Treasure Box Tuesday
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Love Bakes Good Cakes: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Carole's Chatter: Food on Friday - Apples

Barbecue Pork and Vegetable Soup

Burgoo has been on my to do list for quite a while. I just never get around to putting it on the list. Well this week I made my Slow Cooker Roast Pork and had plenty of leftovers. When I thought about what to do with it, Burgoo came to mind. I looked at the recipes I had saved and went looking in the pantry. I couldn't make either recipe. So I improvised. I guess you can say this soup is “Burgoo” inspired. Definitely not authentic, but really delicious. It is sweet, smoky and loaded with veggies. If you don't have leftover pork I am sure leftover chicken, brisket, sausage or any combination would be delicious. I still plan to make an authentic burgoo one day, but I plan to try this again with chicken and sausage too. Yumm! BBQ Soup!

Barbecue Pork and Vegetable Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5oz.) can fire roasted tomatoes with seasonings

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups beef broth

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables with lima beans

1 cup frozen O’Brien potatoes

2 cups shredded leftover pork roast

1 cup barbecue sauce

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Kosher salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste

Hot sauce, optional for serving

Directions

In a soup pot, saute onion, bell pepper, and celery over medium –high heat until onion begins to get translucent. Add garlic and saute one minute. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour. Cook until potatoes and lima beans are tender. Serve with hot sauce if desired.

Linking to:
Love Bakes Good Cakes: The Ultimate Soup Recipe List Linky
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Carole's Chatter: Food on Fridays - Leftovers

Recipe Review: Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup

The other day I ran into the grocery store for just one or two things. At the front door was tons of asparagus bunches. They were beautiful! When I look for asparagus they are never this pretty. So I scooped up two bunches and ran to get the things on my list. When I got home I searched Pinterest for a recipe. That is when I found this Creamy Roasted Asparagus Soup on Gimme Some Oven. Ali is such a smart girl. She roasts the asparagus and other veggies before she makes her delicious soup. But what is really amazing about her recipe is she adds thyme and vermouth. The soup was just a green vegetable soup for me until I added the vermouth. It really came alive with that addition. I love this soup with the "herbie" flavor of thyme and vermouth. I will definitely make this recipe again. 

P.S. This one is dear sister approved too!

Honey Roasted Garlic Hummus

Remember the great smooth hummus experiment I have embarked on? In the first experiment I peeled the garbanzo beans before making my Traditional Hummus recipe. It really did make a difference in the texture, much more smooth. This weekend in experiment number two, I cooked the canned garbanzo beans. Now, I read that some people cook the beans for 1 to 2 hours. I thought that was a little excessive, besides believe it or not I don't think I have the patience for that. Ask anyone, I have a lot of patience. Maybe just not the patience for hummus? I decided to cook them for the amount of time it would take to roast garlic to add to the hummus. Cooking the beans did soften them quite a bit. I still saw a skin or two floating around looking to make trouble. But the end result is that the hummus is quite smooth. It looks grainy but the texture is really smooth. I would use this method again for hummus flavors that required roasting the other ingredients. For example, this would be great for my Spicy Tomato and Olive Oil Hummus.

Now let's talk about flavor. This hummus recipe is for all of you who love garlic's sweet side. You know how when garlic is perfectly caramelized it is sweet and no longer pungent. You might think that a whole head of garlic is too much. Not when it is roasted. It is just wonderful. In this case, the honey helps to caramelize the garlic. This flavor combo is really well balanced. It does not taste like just honey or just garlic. This hummus has a smooth sweet hint of garlic. I garnished with a drizzle of honey and a roasted garlic clove or two. I loved the carrots with this hummus. For some reason the carrots brought out the sweet garlic flavor the most. I like it when experiments are delicious.

Honey Roasted Garlic Hummus
Makes about 2 cups, Serves 16 (2 Tbsp. serving)

Ingredients

1 head garlic
2 tsp. honey
2 tsp. olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans (drained, reserving liquid) 
3 Tbsp. tahini
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 tsp. kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Drain the garbanzo beans reserving the liquid. Place beans in a pot and cover with water, about an inch more than the surface of the beans. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once beans begin to boil lower the heat to medium low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cut the top 1/2 inch off the head of garlic, exposing the cloves. Set the garlic in the center of a square of heavy aluminum foil. Pour 1 teaspoon of the honey and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over the garlic, season with salt, replace the top, and fold up the sides of the foil to make a package, crimping the top tight. Bake until very tender and golden, 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. When garlic is cool enough to handle, carefully pop out the garlic cloves by pushing up from the bottom. Reserve one clove for a garnish (optional).

Remove beans from the heat and drain. In the bowl of a food processor, add garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, roasted garlic, salt, remaining honey and olive oil. Blend until smooth, drizzling in a 1/3 cup of the liquid from the can. Add more liquid depending on how thick you like it. 

To serve: Place 2 Tbsp. on a plate or in a ramekin. Drizzle with honey or olive oil. Garnish with the reserved roasted garlic clove (optional). Serve with veggies or pita for dipping.

Linking to:

Dizzy Busy & Hungry: Wine'd Down Wednesday

Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday

Easy Life Meal and Party Planning: Four Seasons Blog Hop

Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Horrific Knits: Inspired Weekends

My Turn for Us: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends

Tales of a Pee Dee Mama: Food on Friday

Adventures with Jude: Sunday Sharing Pinterest Party

Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo

Hot and Sour Vegetable Soup

This is another recipe I found on the WW recipe review board. I have been making it for years. It is so fast to prepare, in the time it takes to bring the broth to a boil you are done. It is hot (spicy) and sour (tart). But you can adjust it to your taste. If you want more heat add more garlic chili sauce. If you are not one for the pucker of lemon or vinegar cut back on those ingredients. This is so delicious and very guilt free. It is a wonderful way to stay warm and get in a big serving of vegetables.

Hot and Sour Vegetable Soup

aka Zero Point Oriental Soup
Adapted from: WW Recipe Review Board
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

6 cups fat free low sodium chicken broth

16 oz. package frozen Oriental-style stir fry vegetables

8 oz. can bamboo shoots, drained

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp. fish sauce

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. garlic chili paste, or to taste

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

Bring chicken broth to a boil, add veggies and turn off heat. Add remaining ingredients and stir to blend. 

Linking to:

Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo

Love Bakes Good Cakes: The Ultimate Soup Recipe List Linky

It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist

Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesday

Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday

Easy Life Meal and Party Planning: Four Seasons Blog Hop

Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Horrific Knits: Inspired Weekends

My Turn for Us: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends

Tales of a Pee Dee Mama: Food on Friday

Adventures with Jude: Sunday Sharing Pinterest Party

Birthday Beach Cupcakes

I have been kind of busy this past week or more. So happy for the increase in work. It is a great thing but has put the brakes on creative cooking and blogging. I have made more quick, easy or set it and forget it type of meals this week. I did another Roasted Chicken in a Bundt Pan. This was mainly for the pug, she LOVES chicken.

This past week was definitely all about work and celebrations. I did make some cupcakes for dear sister's birthday. Not homemade, all from box or package ingredients but they did turn out super cute. Sister had mentioned wanting to try to make a Black Forest Cake so I decided to use that for the cupcake flavor and embellish them with a sunny beach theme. Sunny and happy fits sister's personality to a tee. Also for her birthday Mom, Dad and I made a few family recipes. We made Seafood Gumbo with lump crab and okra. We could not find gumbo crabs so we had to improvise. Mom also made a Potato Salad with Olives earlier in the day.

Sister kept the celebrations going through the weekend. She had to bring something to a St. Patricks Day party. So she made a double recipe of Baked Beef Dip and I styled it for the holiday. I made three four leaf clovers out of bell pepper rings for the top.

Here is a bit more about the cupcakes:

Birthday Beach Cupcakes
Makes 20

Ingredients

Box of Triple Chocolate Cake Mix (eggs and oil)
1 can of light cherry pie filling
1 can of whipped Vanilla Frosting
Crushed Vanilla wafers
Maraschino cherries, drained and dried on paper towel
Rippin berry flavored licorice candies
Paper umbrellas
Decorative paper cupcake liners

Directions

Preheat oven to cake mix directions. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Prepare the cake mix according to directions for cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 the way full. I was able to make 20 cupcakes. Bake according to directions. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack.

When cupcakes are cool, cut a piece out of the center and fill with a little of the cherry pie filling. Top with the piece of cake that you had removed. Trim it a bit if necessary. Frost with vanilla frosting and sprinkle with vanilla wafer crumbs for the sand. Decorate with licorice candy as a beach blanket, a cherry for a beach ball and a paper umbrella. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesday
Easy Life Meal and Party Planning: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Horrific Knits: Inspired Weekends

Tales of a Pee Dee Mama: Food on Friday
Adventures with Jude: Sunday Sharing Pinterest Party

Sausage and Peppers Tortellini Soup

Last week I told you about fast and easy Tortellini Soups by Sunny Anderson and I made a Mexican Chicken Tortellini Soup. Here is my second soup inspired by Sunny and Rachael's 10 Instant Supper Soups. This one is like an Italian sausage and peppers sandwich in a bowl. It is so fast to prepare, the only messy task is rolling the Italian sausage into balls. Almost everything else is just added to the pot. I LOVED the broth and peppers. That part alone taste like sausage and peppers. The spices and sausage really infused the broth with lots of flavor. Then there is all the tasty and hearty treasures of tortellini, sausage, cheese and croutons. So good! The only thing I might do different is make my own croutons or toasted baguette. The croutons really dissolve quickly in the hot broth. All in all this is another delicious speedy weeknight supper soup.







































Sausage and Peppers Tortellini Soup

Servings:  4 to 6

Ingredients

1/2 lb. reduced fat Italian sausage (pork and turkey blend)

6 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth

16 oz. frozen peppers and onion blend

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp. Fennel seeds, crushed

1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning

9 oz. package sausage or cheese tortellini

Italian or pizza cheese blend (one with mozzarella and provolone)

Garlic flavored croutons

Directions

Remove the casing from two and a half Italian sausage links. Slice whole links into 6 pieces and half link into 3 pieces, roll each piece into a ball. Place sausage balls in a soup pot over medium high and brown on all sides. Add broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Add pepper blend and seasonings; return to a boil. Add tortellini, reduce heat and simmer 9 minutes or according to package directions. Serve garnished with cheese and croutons.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Love Bakes Good Cakes: The Ultimate Soup Recipe List Linky
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesday
Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday
Easy Life Meal and Party Planning: Four Seasons Blog Hop
My Turn for Us: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends

Recipe Review: Fat Flush Soup

I first heard about Fat Flush Soup from my dear sister. She had gone to a friends for a party and the hostess had served the soup. Sister said is was delicious and almost taste like Taco Soup. I immediately started asking lots of questions and for the recipe. She said it was from a diet in Woman's World magazine. So I did a quick internet search, found the recipe and gave it a try. It is a delicious soup, terrible name but a great soup. I can't tell you anything about the diet plan, but if you get to eat this soup that is a plus. 

There are a lot of variations of the soup out there. This is a link to the original recipe: Anna Louise's Famous Fat Flush Soup Recipe. I have made it several times, I have used both turkey and beef, tomato juice and V-8 juice, with squash and without, with lemon juice and with lime juice. Each time the soup was delicious. I think the important ingredients are citrus juice, cumin, parsley and cilantro. These are the flavors that give the soup it's unique "taco soup" flavor. The citrus juice really is a great replacement for salt. I found I did not need to add salt. Sister would tell you to add salt, but I think that would probably defeat the purpose in it's name. Fat flushing claims or not, this is a delicious soup that I plan to make many more times.

Here is what was in the pot this time:

Fat Flush Soup
Adapted from: Anna Louise's Famous Fat Flush Soup
Makes 10 to 12 cups

Ingredients

2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/4 lbs. lean ground turkey
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large yellow squash, chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
32 oz. reduced-sodium V-8 juice
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup each fresh cilantro and parsley leaves, chopped

Directions

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, cook oil 30 seconds or until heated. Add turkey and cook 5 minutes or until cooked through, stirring occasionally. In same pot, cook onions, peppers, squash, mushrooms and garlic for 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in next 6 ingredients. Cover and bring soup just to a simmer (do not let boil). Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro and parsley; cover and let simmer 5 minutes more.

Garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese, if desired. Soup can be stored up to 5 days in the refrigerator or frozen for 2-3 weeks.

Magazine Review: 2 New Trinity Flavors

Here is just a heads up. In the March/April issue of Louisiana Cookin' magazine, they have an article called Building Flavor with the Trinity. They include a Traditional Trinity recipe and two new flavors. At least they are new to me. They also include recipes in which to use each of the new flavors. The first is a Smoky Trinity flavor. They use a roasted poblano pepper instead of a bell pepper and they add smoky paprika and ground chipotle powders. I can't wait to try this one in a soup of some sort. You know how I love poblanos. The second new flavor is a Spicy Trinity. I am a little intimidated by the potential heat of this one. They use jalapeno instead of bell pepper and add crushed red pepper and cayenne. In my experience, spicy heat builds in long cooking foods. This recipe maybe best suited for quick dishes, at least for me and my heat tolerances. Either way I am excited about experimenting with both new flavors.

I checked and the recipes are not on their website yet. I so want to post the recipes or a photo of them, but I don't want to break the copyright law. So rush out to get yours or order your copy now or you will miss out. I will be sure to post any experimenting I do in the future.

Here is my family recipe for 

Traditional Trinity

1 large onion, diced

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

3 ribs of celery, diced

Depending on the recipe your cooking, saute in olive oil, 

butter or a roux made of equal parts flour and oil.

See my Family Cookbook

for Gumbos, Soups and Stews all including the Trinity.

Magazine Cover

Linking to:
The Chicken Chick: Clever Chick Blog Hop
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo

Mexican Chicken Tortellini Soup

I am so excited to tell you about my new discovery. This week on Rachael Ray, Sunny Anderson and Rachael made 10 super easy tortellini soups (click here for the link). It was so fast, that they made all ten in one segment. By the time they added the last recipe to the pot, they went back to the first pot and served it. I plan to try them all sooner or later. But I was so inspired by the idea that I had several recipe ideas of my own. This week, I made Sunny's Creamed Spinach Tortellini Soup and a creation of my own. Her soup was so good. It really tastes like creamed spinach, especially the next day. I would definitely make this ahead for lunches in the future.

As for my creation, I decided to use the flavors of Chicken Tortilla Soup and make another easy tortellini soup. It was delicious and filling. This soup has all the Mexican flavors of corn, tomato, chilies and cilantro. The tortellini provided a cheesy bite in each spoonful. The leftover chicken from my Roasted Chicken in a Bundt Pan came in handy for this recipe. I love that this soup has so few ingredients but big flavor. This is another quick weeknight meal.

Mexican Chicken Tortellini Soup 
Servings:  6 

Ingredients

6 cups fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth 
10 oz. can tomatoes with green chilies, undrained*   
15 oz. can yellow corn (no-salt added), undrained
1 Tbsp. Fajita Seasoning (click here for recipe)
9 oz. package cheese tortellini
1-1/2 cups shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped 
Lime wedges (optional)

Directions

Place broth, tomatoes, corn and seasoning in a stock pot. Bring to a boil. Add tortellini and chicken, simmer 9 minutes or according to package directions. Add cilantro and taste for seasoning, adjust to taste. Serve garnished with a squeeze of lime (optional).

*Note: Tomatoes with green chilies can be spicy. I used what they call original and it had great heat. Use mild if you do not like spicy foods.

Linking to:

Love Bakes Good Cakes: The Ultimate Soup Recipe List Linky
My Mixing Spoon: Random Recipe Roundup
This Gal Cooks: Marvelous Mondays
The Chicken Chick: Clever Chick Blog Hop
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
The Tumbleweed Contessa: What'd You Do This Weekend?
Yesterfood: Treasure Box Tuesday
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesdays
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Family Home and Life: Wow Us Wednesday
Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday
Dizzy Busy & Hungry: Wine'd Down Wednesday
Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
My Turn for Us: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Tales of a Pee Dee Mama: Food on Friday

Drop Biscuits

The elusive Drop Biscuit? Mom has always made these biscuits from one of her very old and well used Betty Crocker cookbooks. But ever since I moved out of my parents home, I have been trying to make these biscuits. They would never come out like Mom's. Flash forward 16 years, I read the instructions I had written down back to Mom for I think the third time?

Me: ...1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/3 cup milk.
Mom: Oh wait! It is 2/3 cup milk. 

Hallelujah!!!!! Problem solved! I can now make Mom's Drop Biscuits! So very HAPPY!!! Look! Here they are in all there crumbly, fluffy and soft glory.

Drop Biscuits
Source: Mom and Betty Crocker
Makes 6 to 8 biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add oil and milk. Stir until just combined. Drop large spoonfuls on baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

Notes: Mom often adds other ingredients like, cheese, bacon, sausage or even cracklins on occasion.

Linking to:

My Mixing Spoon: Random Recipe Roundup
This Gal Cooks: Marvelous Mondays
The Chicken Chick: Clever Chick Blog Hop
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
The Tumbleweed Contessa: What'd You Do This Weekend?
Yesterfood: Treasure Box Tuesday
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesdays
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Family Home and Life: Wow Us Wednesday
Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday
Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
My Turn for Us: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Hungry Harps: #GetHimFed Fridays
Tales of a Pee Dee Mama: Food on Friday

Roasted Chicken in a Bundt Pan

I saw this on Food Network's new show the Kitchen, I knew I had to try it. But there was not a recipe on the website. So I did a search and I found a lot of other recipes out there. Several people who tried it loved the moist chicken but complained about the lower half of the skin not getting crisp. So I decided to use the convection oven setting to see if that made a difference. It worked beautifully! The skin was nice and crisp from front to back; top to bottom. And the POTATOES! They were amazing! The potatoes absorb all the delicious seasonings and chicken flavor. If you ask me the chicken leg and the potatoes are the best part. Save that plate for the cook or give it to someone you really love. You could use just about any seasoning in this recipe. I tried the Italian Herb Rub I used on the Slow Cooker Roast Pork Sandwiches with Broccoli Rabe. It was just perfect, but I do look forward to trying many more rubs in the future. This is a great roast chicken technique.

Roasted Chicken in a Bundt Pan

Serves 4

Ingredients

28 oz. yellow new potatoes

1 onion, peeled and cut into eights

Olive oil

Italian Herb Rub (Click Here for Recipe)
Kosher salt, to taste (optional)

3 to 3-1/2 lb. chicken

Directions

Preheat convection oven to 375 degrees.

Place a Bundt pan on a cookie sheet. Place potatoes and onions in the bottom of the pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with Italian Herb Rub and salt (if using); rub vegetables to evenly coat. Place chicken on center column of Bundt pan legs down. Drizzle with olive oil and season with Italian Herb Rub and salt (if using); rub chicken to evenly coat with oil and seasoning.

Roast for 1 hour and 10 minutes in a convection oven* or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the leg. Rotate once half way through cook time for even browning. Remove from oven and rest loosely covered with aluminum foil for 15 minutes. Carefully remove chicken from Bundt pan to a cutting board. Remove vegetables to a platter or serving bowl. Cut chicken into eight pieces and place on a serving platter.

*Note: I have not tried this recipe in a conventional oven. According to conversion charts to prepare in a conventional oven roast for approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Linking to:

My Mixing Spoon: Random Recipe Roundup
This Gal Cooks: Marvelous Mondays
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
The Tumbleweed Contessa: What'd You Do This Weekend?
Yesterfood: Treasure Box Tuesday
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesdays
It's Your Life: Tuesdays with a Twist
Family Home and Life: Wow Us Wednesday
Buns In My Oven: What's Cookin' Wednesday
Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
My Turn for Us: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Hungry Harps: #GetHimFed Fridays
Tales of a Pee Dee Mama: Food on Friday