Christmas Eve Clam Chowder

For my mama...
If you'd like a picture of the cookie trees we made, I have plenty. I didn't get one of the chowder.
This recipe originally came from my old backyard neighbor, Norma Nichols, who designed the CTR shield (yes, the very one) and whose house my sister now resides in.

Christmas Eve Clam Chowder
2 Stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 large potatoes, cubed
2 cans chopped clams
3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
1 qt. half and half
1 1/2 t. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
dash pepper
1 T. lemon juice (opt.)

Place onion, celery and potatoes in a large pot. Add the juice from the clams and enough water to barely cover. Cook until potatoes are just tender. In a mixing bowl, melt butter and stir in flour to make a roux. Add spices and enough half and half to make it smooth. Slowly stir into veggies and cook on medium until thick. Add clams and lemon juice, heat through.

Suggestions are as follows: I can't stand how clams chew and chew and never go away, so I use one can of minced and one can of chopped. Lemon juice is optional, but makes all the difference, so not really.

Cream of Broccoli Soup!

We officially had our first snow and as tradition has it in Husband's family, Cream of Broccoli soup was served. It's hard to get the full effect when your house isn't filled with the wonderful aroma of this creamy bowlful. Believe me, it's just what you need when the snow starts falling...

32 oz. frozen chopped broccoli (florets are prettier, but expensiver too)

1/4 c. dried minced onion (1/2 cup fresh will work as well)

1/4 c. chicken bouillon

1 qt. half and half

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 c. flour

red wine vinegar (opt.)

Place broccoli in a pot and barely cover with water, add onion flakes and bouillon and bring to a boil. Turn down and cook 5-8 minutes until broccoli is almost tender. Stir in half and half. Mix melted butter and flour together into a roux and slowly stir into soup. Keep on low and do not boil. Stir until thickened and add more milk if you prefer it thinner. Salt and pepper to taste. MIL Mary adds a tablespoon of the vinegar for a final touch (I do two, I love it, but it can be overdone!) She has also been known to throw in a small bottle of Cheez Whiz, so if you like it Cheesy, there you go. Enjoy it hot.

No soup for you!

Sheesh, you'd think I was the soup Nazi! Are there no soup recipes to be had, you ask? Well, I'd better get a move on. SOUP RECIPE #1:

White Chicken Chili:

1 Tb. olive oil

2 lb. boneless skinless chicken

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

4 oz. can diced green chiles

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried cilantro
15 oz. can white beans, rinsed

small can green enchilada sauce (opt.)

Cube chicken and cook with onion in oil 5 min. I skipped this step and used cooked, shredded from the freezer. Add broth, chiles & spices. Simmer 15 min. Add beans and enchilada sauce if you choose. Heat through. Top with Monterey Jack or crushed tortilla chips.

By the way, the enchilada sauce is my friend Georgia's "secret ingredient" and I only put the "optional" part for your benefit. At our house it is mandatory.

Wait for the first snow! I will post my mother-in-law's traditional Cream of Broccoli Soup, which is unbelievable.

Rainbow Bean Soup

This is a gift from my friend Georgia. I thought it was very pretty and very tasty, so it is getting posted because my kitchen has been boring lately. I made it for dinner last night and don't have a picture, because after the soaking everything took on a bit of a purple-gray tint from the black beans. This cleared up after rinsing and adding tomatoes, but still...it's so much nicer looking in the jar. Here is the recipe.

Some foods are more photogenic...

Ever notice how some foods are so beautiful that it's almost a shame to put them in your mouth? And how some are so mouth watering you'd eat them no matter what they looked like? On that note, I only have one picture to post. I'd never tried hominy before, but it was good. Like little corn tortilla pieces all boiled fluffy. So here is Pork Pozole.

I tried, but I just couldn't take a pretty picture of this Jambalaya. Not that it wasn't absolutely delicious, though. I have been trying jambalaya recipes for quite a while, searching for the perfect mix of tasty, easy, quick and cheap. Most of them were in fact cheap. Easy and tasty were harder to find. This one showed up in the newspaper two weeks ago and we've had it twice. It's super.

Chicken Barley Stew

I know, it's been while, but I finally got my pictures from husband's computer. I guess if I expect to keep my visitors, I must entertain them, so I'll be posting a few times this week. First, here is dinner last night. This one is a quicky and but for the barley, you probably have all ingredients on hand. Oh, and if you think you don't like barley, you are probably wrong.

Chicken Barley Stew

1 tsp. oil

1 c. chopped onion

2 c. (or 1 can) chicken broth

2 c. water

1/2 c. quick-cook barley

2 tsp. chili powder

2-3 c. frozen corn, green beans, peas

2 c. shredded chicken

1 can diced tomatoes

1 Tb. dried parsley or cilantro

Saute onion in oil 5 min. Add broth and water, bring to a boil. Stir in barley and chili powder. Simmer 5 min. and add veggies. Anything is really fine here. I use some frozen, some canned (never canned peas--they are icky). Cover and simmer 5 min. until barley is tender. Stir in chicken (or beef or turkey, cooked) and tomatoes (spicy ones are good). Add parsley now. Heat through and serve.