Lasagna Soup

Here is another recipe I found on the Weight Watchers Recipe Review board. It was posted as someone’s lighter version of Paula Deen’s recipe for Taste like Lasagna Soup. Over the years I have made it my own. My Mom always made lasagna with a mix of beef and Italian sausage, so I added fennel seeds, red and black pepper to impart a little of that flavor. It is delicious. I garnish it with just a little cheese that quickly melts from the heat of the soup. This is to keep it on the light side. It is still very cheesy and has those wonderful stretchy cheese strings. If you are not worried about the calories load up on the cheese as Paula intended. Just don’t miss out on this soup. It is so good! Comfort food if you ask me.

Lasagna Soup

Serves 8 -10

Ingredients

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 (14-1/2 oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 Tbsp. firmly packed light brown sugar

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups dry campanelle or rotini pasta

8 tsp. Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

Heat a large Dutch oven to medium high heat, add olive oil and ground beef. When meat begins to brown, add onion, bell pepper and garlic; cook stirring occasionally until beef is browned and onion is translucent. Season beef mixture with salt, black pepper, red pepper, fennel seeds and Italian seasoning. Continue cooking a minute stirring to combine.

Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, brown sugar and chicken broth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, and simmer partially covered for 15 minutes.

Add pasta and simmer another 11 minutes or until noodles are tender. Serve in soup bowls topped with 1 tsp. Parmesan and 1 Tbsp. mozzarella cheese.

Note: I prefer campanelle shaped pasta. They look like little “belles” or “lilies”. When they cook they look like broken pieces of lasagna noodles. This shape is not always available so I substitute rotini pasta. This shape looks like a “corkscrew”. [Click here for a link of pasta shapes.]

Linking to:

Love Bakes Good Cakes: The Ultimate Soup Recipe List Linky

Mommy On Demand: The Blog Strut

Horrific Knits: Fall Into the Holidays

Life on Lakeshore Drive: Bouquet of Talent Linky Party

My Plate of Crumbs: Random Recipe Roundup

Call Me PMc: Marvelous Mondays

The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen: Show Me Your Plaid Mondays

Mommy On Demand: Create it or Bake it

Stone Cottage Adventures: Tuesday with a Twist

Ma Niche: Tasty Tuesday

Almond Cheesecake 2013

This is our Thanksgiving dessert tradition. It is an amazing cheesecake! The almonds create such a rich flavor you won’t believe this is a lower-calorie cheesecake. I posted it last year put forgot to take pictures. So this year I made sure to rectify that situation. I took tons of photos. This is another must try. You will not be sorry.

Almond Cheesecake

Source: 125 Best Cheesecake Recipes by George Geary's

Serves 10 to 12

Crust:                1-1/2 cups almond cookie crumbs

                        3 Tbsp margarine, melted

Filling:               2 (8 oz) packages Neufchatel cheese or light cream cheese,                           softened

                        1 cup lower-fat sour cream

                        1 cup granulated sugar

                        3 eggs

                        3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

                        1/4 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

                        1 tsp vanilla

                        1/4 tsp ground allspice

Decoration:        8 oz lower-fat whipped topping

                        1/4 cup ground almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Use a 9-inch springform pan with 3” sides.

Crust: In a medium bowl, combine almond cookie crumbs and margarine. Press into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.

Filling: In a large mixer bowl, beat cheese, sour cream and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Fold in flour, almonds, vanilla and allspice. Pour over frozen crust. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the top is light brown and the center has a slight jiggle to it. Cool on a rack for 2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before decorating.

Decoration: Top with whipped topping and dust with a sprinkling of ground almonds.

Variation: Spike the almond flavor with 2 Tbsp almond liqueur.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:  Calories 336.1; Total Fat 19.7 g; Saturated Fat 9.2 g; Polyunsaturated Fat 3.1 g; Monounsaturated Fat 6.4 g; Cholesterol 83.0 mg; Sodium 285.1 mg; Potassium 144.7 mg; Total Carbohydrate 31.3 g; Dietary Fiber 0.8 g; Sugars 23.1 g; Protein 8.0 g. 9 WW PointsPlus.

Notes: I used Italian amaretti cookies for the crumbs. Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. This will prevent the cheesecake from cracking. Definitely use the almond liqueur. I used amaretto and added it with the vanilla. This cheesecake can be frozen too. Remove springform ring, wrap in plastic wrap and then foil and place in the freezer. Just allow 24 hours for it to defrost in the refrigerator and wait to decorate just before serving.

NI includes amaretto; however it is calculated with graham crackers not almond cookie. Sparkrecipes did not have a listing for almond cookie.

Linking to:
Mommy On Demand: Create it OR Bake it
Stone Cottage Adventures: Tuesdays with a Twist
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesdays
Memories by the Mile: Tuesday Trivia-Illinois and Link Party
Dizzy Busy and Hungry: Wine'd Down 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
Horrific Knits: Fall Into the Holidays
My Plate of Crumbs: Random Recipe Roundup
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo

Turkey with Herbes de Provence 2013

I experimented with my turkey recipe this year [Click here for more about this recipe]. I cut out a few steps in the gravy process. I also eliminated the butter from the gravy. I saw some where [maybe the Chew?] that turkey fat had less saturated fat than butter. So I used the turkey fat to saute the mushrooms. It turned out great. No one noticed a difference. I did remember to get photos of the whole bird this year. I also photographed some of the gravy process. If you are looking for a new turkey recipe this one is delicious, tried and true.

Turkey with Herbes de Provence

Yield: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

1 (14 to 15-pound) turkey, neck and giblets reserved

1 lemon, cut into wedges

1 onion, cut into wedges

1 celery rib, cut into pieces

1 carrot, cut into pieces

6 fresh rosemary sprigs

6 fresh sage sprigs

6 fresh oregano sprigs

6 fresh thyme sprigs

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 Tbsp herbes de Provence

3/4 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

3/4 tsp Tony’s Creole Seasoning

1 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth (approximate amount)

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

To make the turkey: Position the rack in the lowest third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.

Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Place the turkey on a rack set inside a large roasting pan. Season the turkey inside and out with salt and pepper. Place the lemon wedges, onion, celery, carrot and 2 sprigs of each fresh herb in the main turkey cavity. Tie the legs together to hold the shape of the turkey. Stir 2 tablespoons of butter, the herbes de Provence, seasoned salt, creole seasoning, oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of pepper in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the butter melts. Rub the butter mixture all over the turkey and between the turkey breast meat and skin. Place the turkey neck and giblets in roasting pan. Let turkey stand at room temperature 30 minutes before roasting.

Cover the turkey breast with foil. Roast for 20 minutes. Pour 3 cups of broth into the pan and stir to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining sprigs of fresh herbs to the pan. Roast the turkey for 40 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Remove the foil from the turkey; pour 1 more cup of broth into the pan. Continue roasting the turkey until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F to 175 degrees F or until the juices run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a skewer, basting occasionally with pan juices, about 1 hour and 30 minutes longer. Transfer the turkey to a platter and tent with foil. Let stand 30 minutes while preparing the gravy.

To make the gravy: Remove and discard the solids from the roasting pan. Add mushrooms to the roasting pan and sauté until mushrooms begin to soften. Add chicken broth, about 1 to 2 cups, to the pan juices. Add the flour to remaining chicken broth and stir until flour is combined. Gradually stir in the roasting pan. Simmer until the gravy thickens slightly, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning add salt and pepper if necessary. Serve the turkey with the gravy.

Linking to:
Stone Cottage Adventures: Tuesdays with a Twist

Deviled Pecans

These are the best spiced pecans ever! We have tried many recipes and once we found this one from Southern Living we stopped looking. Everyone who tries them says they are addictive. They are spicy and so savory. I like that the spice mix just lightly coats the pecans. You get all the flavor and can still enjoy the texture of the pecan. So delicious! They would make a great food gift this Christmas. We always make them for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Trust me you will be happy you made this recipe.

Deviled Pecans

Source: Southern Living

Ingredients

1 lb. pecans

1/3 cup melted butter

2 tsp. hot sauce

2 tsp. Worcestershire

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

1/4 tsp. dried mustard

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place nuts in shallow baking pan. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over nuts and stir well. Bake 20 minutes, stirring twice during the cooking. Let cool on thick paper towels. Store in airtight container.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
This Gal Cooks: Marvelous Mondays
Mommy On Demand: Create it OR Bake it
Stone Cottage Adventures: Tuesdays with a Twist
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesdays
Memories by the Mile: Tuesday Trivia-Illinois and Link Party
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
Mommy On Demand: The Blog Strut
Horrific Knits: Fall Into the Holidays
My Plate of Crumbs: Random Recipe Roundup
Carole's Chatter: Food on Fridays - Nuts

Oyster Night

I just had a wonderful week spent with my favorite person in the world. He came for the whole week of Thanksgiving and we cooked until we dropped. 

One of the highlights of the week was Oyster Night. Mom brought over a sack of oysters and we sat around the table with dear sister and Mom opening oysters for the very first time. Several people warned us that is was really hard to do. But we managed quite nicely. Not a single oyster went unopened. It was such a great experience. It was a freezing cold wet day, so it turned out handling and cleaning the oysters was harder than opening them. It was so so COLD!!!! The oysters were so delicious and very salty. Can't wait to do this again. 

We made a few condiments for the raw oysters. The first was Mom's Cocktail Sauce. It is a classic at our house. We make it every time we have seafood. It is great on boiled crawfish, boiled shrimp, fried shrimp and of course oysters. The second condiment was my third attempt at Deckhand Sauce from Deckhand's Oyster Bar (Round Rock, TX). I have been trying so hard to replicate this sauce. This is the closest I have come so far. It is not exactly the same but close enough since I don't live any where close to the restaurant. It was spicy and complemented the oysters so well. Mom said she preferred it to the cocktail sauce. She really liked the cilantro in the sauce. We also made Donald Link's Garlic-Chile Butter so we could try grilling some of the oysters. It is delicious too. We all thought that a tablespoon of butter on each oyster was too much, so I put less. Now I know why, the butter burns off or spills during the grilling. So in this case more is better. Everything turned out amazing. I would definitely plan Oyster Night the same exact way next time. Great food and even better company!

Mom's Cocktail Sauce

Ingredients

1 bottle chili sauce
2 Tbsp. horseradish
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

Pour chili sauce in a medium bowl. Stir in horseradish, lemon juice, Tabasco and salt. Mix well and taste, add ingredients to taste. Serve with boiled and fried seafood.

Deckhand Inspired Oyster Sauce

Ingredients

2 anchovy fillets, mashed
3 cloves garlic, finely grated
Juice of 2 limes
2 Tbsp. Sriracha sauce
1 tsp. kosher salt
Handful of cilantro, minced
2 Tbsp. water

Directions

In a medium bowl mash anchovies into a paste. Grate garlic clove on a microplane grater into the anchovies. Mash together until combined. Add lime juice, Sriracha, salt, cilantro and water. Mix well and pour into a squeeze bottle. Note the tip of the squeeze bottle may need to be trimmed so that cilantro will pass through the tip. Squeeze over oysters on the half shell.

Grilled Oysters with Garlic-Chile Butter
Source: Real Cajun by Donald Link
Serves 4 to 6

Compound Butter:
2 sticks butter
3 garlic cloves
2 anchovy fillets
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp Sriracha sauce
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt

16 oysters, in the shell
Lemon wedges, for garnish

Directions

Cut butter into 1-inch cubes and allow it to soften to room temperature.

Mince the garlic, anchovy, and lemon zest (or mash in a mortar and pestle), and then fold in the butter, lemon juice, garlic chili sauce, red pepper flakes, cayenne, and salt. Roll the butter into a log, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until needed.

Open the oysters as you would for on the half shell, discarding the top shells. Place a 1-tablespoon slice of the compound butter on each oyster and place on a hot grill until until the juices begin to bubble and the oyster curls up around the edges, 6 to 10 minutes. (It's good to melt a few tablespoons of the butter to put om the oysters after they are grilled, in case some spills out of the shells.)

Serve immediately, with wedges of fresh lemon, if desired.

Linking to:
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo
Jam Hands: Recipe Sharing Monday
This Gal Cooks: Marvelous Mondays
Stone Cottage Adventures: Tuesdays with a Twist
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesdays
Memories by the Mile: Tuesday Trivia-Illinois and Link Party
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Recipe Review: Thai Basil Beef

I'm back to blogging after a long fun filled Thanksgiving holiday. There has been a lot of cooking going on. So be looking for new posts over the next few days. Here is what happened before the holidays.

The week before Thanksgiving I had to harvest my purple basil. A freeze was coming and I knew it would not survive. I could not bring it in because some ants had decided to move in. So I cut as many long stems of basil off the plant I could and placed them in a container of water. 

Since then I had been looking for ways to use the basil. I found a recipe for Thai Basil Beef on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. The recipe comes from Sugar Bang and is the creation of Master Chef Christine Ha [Click here for the recipe] and photos. It was really good and fast! I liked it best just warm. The cooler it was the more flavor it had in my humble opinion. I would make it again.

I decided to make pesto with the rest of the basil. I used a recipe from Rachael Ray. I thought it might be purple but it looked green to me. I used some to marinate a turkey breast that I grilled. It was delicious! The rest I put in the refrigerator and planned to toss it with some pasta.

Spicy Edamame and Inside Out Egg Rolls

Sister and I just had an impromptu dinner last night. We made two great recipes but we did not take a single photo. Sorry about that! But the recipes are definitely worth sharing. We made Spicy Edamame from Cuisine at Home's December 2013 issue and Inside Out Egg Rolls. 

The Edamame were so good! Spicy! But so so good! We did not chill them, we ate them warm. We both loved the dressing. Sister thought it would be great on green beans too. The sesame oil is wonderful. I love the spicy, tangy soy thing too. Dear sister and I really enjoyed them despite the burning lips we had when they were gone. Still worth it!

The Inside Out Egg Rolls is a recipe from the WW Recipe Review board. I have been making it for a while now. I have adjusted it to my taste adding a little sausage. It really does taste like an egg roll without the fried skin. This time sister found a bag of Chinese noodles to use as a garnish. It was delicious!

The best thing about the whole meal is that it took maybe 15 minutes. Both dishes take no time at all to prepare. I really need to try to keep these ingredients around for when you just need a meal in a hurry. I hope you try one or both soon. I will get photos next time. I promise!


Spicy Edamame
Source: Cuisine at Home; December 2013
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 (16 oz.) bag frozen edamame in the shell
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. minced lemon zest
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
Coarse salt
Toasted sesame seeds

Directions

Cook edamame according to package directions. Drain edamame and transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool; drain and dry in a salad spinner.

Whisk together lemon juice, soy sauce, zest, sesame oil, and pepper flakes in a large bowl; add edamame and toss to coat. Chill edamame until ready to serve, tossing occasionally. Garnish edamame with coarse salt and sesame seeds.

Per serving: 178 cal; 7g total fat (0g sat); 0mg chol; 189mg sodium; 15g carb; 6g fiber; 12g protein.

Note: If you prefer warm edamame, cook, drain, and dry them, then immediately toss with the sauce mixture.

Inside Out Egg Roll

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 Tbsp canola oil

1/2 a roll of reduced fat pork or turkey breakfast sausage

1 garlic clove, grated

1" ginger, grated
1 bag (16 oz.) Cole slaw mix 

Soy sauce (reduced sodium) to taste

1/8 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder

Salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Directions

Sauté sausage in oil until brown. Add garlic, ginger, and slaw mix; saute until it starts to reduce in size. Add soy sauce, five spice powder, salt and peppers to taste. Sauté a little longer and serve.

**UPDATE Click Here for a Re-post of the 

Inside Out Egg Roll recipe with Photos**