French Cabbage Soup

One of my favorite blogs is Morning’s Minion  by a lady from Vermont who retired to live in Kentucky.  Her posts are full of her activities with her cats and her old horse, Pebble, and descriptions of her quilts and their favorite foods.  The other day, she said she had made some French Cabbage soup, which was new to me .  I looked at recipes on the internet and put together different elements along with my own preferences to make this delicious soup with the French kick being the bread and Swiss topping.  I don’t know what recipe my friend in Kentucky used, but this version surely is good.   Homemade chicken broth is best to use, but the kind in a can or box is fine, too.

• Servings: 4
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• 3 Tblsp. butter
• ½ cup onions, chopped
• ½ cup carrots, diced
• 4 cups chicken broth (two 14.5 oz. cans)
• 1 cup potato, raw, peeled and diced
• 4 cups cabbage, chopped
• 2 Tblsp. all-purpose flour plus water to make 1 cup
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• Salt/pepper to taste
• 4 slices of sturdy bread
• 2 slices of Swiss cheese, cut on the diagonal
• Smoked Paprika for sprinkling

In a large soup pot, melt the butter and over medium low heat, saute the onions and carrots until tender.

Add the chicken broth, potatoes and cabbage.

Simmer, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 20 minutes until cabbage and potatoes are tender.

Place flour in a one-cup measure and add enough water to make one cup.  Whisk until smooth and stir this mixture into the soup along with the thyme and salt and pepper to taste (be sure to taste before adding salt – some broth is very salty).

Simmer on medium heat for 20 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

When ready to serve, ladle the hot soup into four oven-proof bowls.  Top each bowl with a slice of bread, a piece of Swiss cheese and a sprinkling of paprika.  Place under the broiler to melt and slightly brown the cheese (watch closely so the cheese doesn’t burn).  Serve immediately.

4 servings

I used some of my old standby Italian bread for the topping.  Just right for perching on top of hot soup.

Onion and Sage Yeast Bread

Since today, October 16, is World Bread Day, I tried a new recipe that was adapted from one in a cookbook called Elsah Landing Heartland Cooking (Illinois), a gift from my youngest son and his wife. The basic changes were to adapt to an easier way to mix the dough with fast-acting yeast and dough hooks.

This makes a delicious soft bread with just a whisper of onion and sage plus a slight texture of corn meal.  Makes great toast or grilled cheese and/or meat sandwiches.

ONION AND SAGE YEAST CORNBREAD

• Servings: Two 9-inch or three 7-½-inch loaves
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• 6 to 6-½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 2 Tblsp. fast acting yeast*
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tblsp. salt
• ½ tsp rubbed dry sage
• ¼ cup dry onion flakes
• 1-¼ cups water
• 1 cup undiluted evaporated milk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs, well beaten (room temperature)

*I use Fleischmann’s Instant Dry Yeast. I buy it in bulk (454 g) and the package says that it is made in Canada. I understand it is packaged under the name “Instant Dry” for distribution through stores like Sam’s, “Rapid Rise” in the U.S. and “Quick Rise” in Canada. The “Instant Dry”, “Rapid Rise” or “Quick Rise” yeast is especially formulated to be used mixed with the dry ingredients and can withstand the hot water.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, place 2 cups all-purpose flour, corn meal, yeast, sugar, salt, dry sage and dry onion flakes.  Beat to blend dry ingredients.

Heat water and evaporated milk to 130 degrees F.  Add heated ingredients to dry mixture in bowl along with oil.  With paddle beater, mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.

Add eggs and beat for 30 seconds.

Remove paddle beater and insert dough hook.  Continue to beat for 6-1/2 minutes, adding flour a little at a time.   You may not have to use all of the flour – the dough should be smooth and elastic after 6-1/2 minutes.

Place dough in an oiled bowl, turn dough over once and cover with a napkin or tea towel.  Let rise for 30 minutes in a warm place that is free of drafts (I put mine on top of my microwave which sets under a cabinet).

After 30 minutes, punch down dough (press your knuckles into the dough to deflate it) and lay it on a lightly floured surface.  Divide dough into two portions (for 9 inch loaves) or three portions (for 7-½ inch loaves).  Roll the dough and form into a loaf.  Turn over and pinch the edges to seal.  Place loaves in greased loaf pans, cover and let rise for another 30 minutes..

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake loaves approximately 45-50 minutes for 9 inch loaves (200 degrees on bread thermometer) or 30-35 minutes for 7-½ inch loaves (200 degrees on bread thermometer) or until bread is golden brown and has a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.  Cover with a piece of foil if top is browning too fast.  Remove bread from pans immediately, cover with a napkin or a tea towel and let cool on a wire rack.

Yield:  Two 9-inch or three 7-½-inch loaves.

A buttered slice or two is just right to accompany a bowl of soup or chili.

Sweet Potato and Bean Soup
White Chicken Chili
Depression Vegetable Soup
Potato Soup

Sour Cream Baked Chicken

This dish isn’t very photogenic, but it sure is good.  It comes from a cookbook called Adventures in a Culinary Vein, published by the Cincinnati Hoxworth Blood Centers.  It’s very easy to put together, bakes for an hour and a half, resulting in  tender chicken with a thick, delicious sauce.

• Servings: 4-6
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• 3 chicken breast halves, each cut into four pieces
• 1 package of dry onion soup mix
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Get out a large shallow baking dish – mine is about 12×12 inches.

In the baking dish, combine onion soup mix, undiluted cream of mushroom soup and sour cream.  Place pieces of chicken in the soup mixture and turn to coat each piece.

Bake uncovered @ 325 degrees F for an hour and a half, stirring after 45 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings

I like to serve this chicken and rich sauce with mashed potatoes and steamed Brussels sprouts

I have a note in my recipe binder:  “First made 3/17/91 – everyone loved – very flavorful.”

Granddaughter Dolphin (as she is known here) was on hand to talk about her latest computer game while I was cooking dinner.

Crispy Corn Muffins

My oldest daughter mentioned she would like to have some old-fashioned green beans, potatoes and ham for supper.  I thought this might be a good time to make some Crispy Corn Muffins to sop up the “pot likker.”

I used one pound of green beans with stems removed and broken, one medium onion cut into quarters, 6 small red new potatoes, halved, and a cup of cooked ham.   Put everything in a big pot, covered with water and cooked on medium heat about an hour until the vegetables were tender.

Added some salt and pepper to taste and the entree was finished.

The corn muffins were an invention of mine back in the early 1980s when my teenage daughter kept pestering me to make corn muffins crispier.  This technique satisfied her and she makes them this way now for her own family.

• Servings: 12
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• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tblsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tblsp. additional cornmeal for muffin tins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Oil cups of a 12-cup muffin tin.  In each cup place 1/2 tsp. of cornmeal, then pick up the tin and rotate to cover the bottom and up the sides of the cups.

In a large mixing bowl whisk the egg, then add the sugar, oil and milk, whisking until smooth.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 cup of cornmeal, the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to the egg mixture and stir just until all of the dry ingredients have been absorbed.  Divide among the 12 prepared cups in the muffin tins.

Bake @ 400 degrees F for 15 minutes until tops are just starting to brown.

Remove muffin tin from oven and immediately with a knife loosen around the edges of each muffin, then use a tablespoon to move the hot muffins to a baking sheet.  Return the muffins to the oven to bake for an additional 5 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Remove muffins to wire rack to cool slightly.  Best when eaten while still warm. 

This wasn’t my southern husband’s favorite version of cornbread, but the rest of us loved it.

Pork, Apple and Sweet Potato Casserole

After being stuck in the house for three days after a major snowfall, I was ready for my daughters and grandchildren to come for Sunday dinner.  I wanted to try something new and found a recipe on Allrecipes.com which I adapted according to our taste and what I had on hand plus I made some changes in procedure based on readers’ comments on Allrecipes.  I thought this casserole was very tasty served over rice and made good leftovers.

PORK, APPLE AND SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

• Six 6″x 3″ pork loin pieces, about 3/4″ thick – cut in half to form 12 3″x3″ pieces
• 1/2 cup of flour for dredging
• salt and pepper for dredging
• 1-2 Tblsp. olive oil for browning pork loin
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced thinly
• 2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced
• 3 Tblsp. light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. curry powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Dredge pork loin pieces in the flour that has been mixed with a sprinkling of salt and pepper.   Heat oil in a large skillet and brown pieces of pork loin on both sides.  Pour the half cup of water in the bottom of a large casserole or baking pan.  Place meat to form a single layer in the bottom of the  pan.

In a large bowl, combine the sliced onions, sweet potatoes and apples.  In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, pepper, salt and curry powder.

Pour the brown sugar mixture over the vegetable mixture and toss to coat.  Spoon the vegetable mixture over the pork loin pieces.

Cover and bake for one hour @ 375 degrees F until the sweet potatoes are tender and the pork has reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.

The grandchildren, known here as Jellyfish and Dolphin, showed different attitudes at the presentation.  Jellyfish looked like he might be willing to try some, but Dolphin definitely didn’t look impressed.

Serve over rice. Sprinkle with snipped parsley if desired.

Yield:  4-6 servings