Soups I Need to Make

Buffalo Chicken Mac n Cheese

Greek Lemon Chicken Rice

Turkey Congee

Lasagna Soup

Stroganoff Soup

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers

Made it up based on making it before and looking at different recipes.

7 small green bell peppers

Removed stems, seeds and ribs from the top. Next time I think I will just split the peppers in half. It would be so much easier. Boil until soft. Remove to a 9x13 with some spaghetti sauce covering the bottom of it. Make 1 cup uncooked rice in the instant pot by rinsing well, adding 1 1/2 cups water, cooking on high pressure for 5 mins and natural release for at least 10 mins (but longer is fine). Remove lid, turn off heat and let cool slightly. 

Mix 1 pound ground beef with diced onion, spaghetti sauce, garlic salt, garlic powder, pepper, dash of Worcestershire, shredded cheddar, a little parmesan. Scoop into pepper shells. Top with rest of the spaghetti sauce. Bake at 375 for 45 mins or until done. Let cool about 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve with sauce poured over.

I used Sal's Cajun Pasta Sauce. It was great for this recipe. If that was not available, I would use any spicy spaghetti sauce (personal preference). 

Many stuffed pepper recipes call for cooking the ground beef and onions first. I wanted them to cook in the pepper to infuse flavor into the pepper and rice. The only mistake I made today was I used 73% lean ground beef. I need to use much leaner next time.

Overall this was great and I will make this again. The shredded cheddar is the secret ingredient. You could not tell it was there but it made it taste so good.

Second try - Soup Series 7 - Irish Beer Cheddar Soup

Made another attempt, and this time it came out very good.

Irish Beer Cheddar Soup

inspired by Buffalo's Blackthorn restaurant's soup, as seen on Diners, Dives & Drive-ins

This time I sauteed onions, carrots, and celery in butter. Once softened, but not browned, I added Killian's Red Irish Ale. Brought to a simmer. Then took off heat. Added shredded cheddar & colby jack slowly, whisking it in. Then added white pepper, montreal steak seasoning, seasoned salt, and chicken base. Then whisked in some instant mashed potato flakes to thicken. Then put back on heat to let it thicken a little bit. Made sure I did not boil it. Then added some heavy cream and nacho cheese. This was great. I forgot to add sliced white american cheese but next time I would. This would be great served with sliced green onions. It did come out a bit salty as I added too much chicken bouillon. But this was very good and I will make it again for sure.

Soup Series 7 - Irish Beer Cheddar Soup

Irish Beer Cheddar Soup

copycat of Buffalo's Blackthorn restaurant's soup, as seen on Diners, Dives & Drive-ins

In butter, sweat Spanish onions that are diced. (I added carrots too but that's not in the original recipe.) Then add Irish beer, and then cubed potatoes that are par boiled. (I used bagged cubed hashbrown potatoes). Add white pepper, Montreal steak seasoning, seasoned salt and chicken base. Bring to a simmer. Then add shredded cheddar and Monterey jack. Add a small amount at a time whisking in. Then add heavy cream and some nacho cheese. Serve with a squirt of wing sauce on top. 

When I made this, it turned out really grainy. I added some mashed potato flakes to thicken it. Which helped. But I believe I added the cheese too fast, at too high of a heat, and that led to it being grainy. I could never get the cheese blended in smoothly.

Next time I will also add some sliced American cheese to help prevent the graininess. Also I read for cheese soups, you should take the soup off heat, and add very small amounts of the shredded cheese at a time and whisk in, to prevent the graininess. Also once the cheese is added, you should be careful to never let it boil, or honestly maybe even simmer. I also used a beer I had on hand but next time I need to use a stronger beer.

I will make this again being much more careful adding the cheese. 

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic from Cook's Country

I'm turning in to someone who can't follow a recipe. I did not follow this recipe closely. It was very good and I would make again. I used boneless skinless chicken breasts but I really should have used bone in chicken thighs that it called for. 

Split boneless skinless chicken breasts horizontally to form 2 cutlets from one breast. Sprinkled boneless chicken with garlic salt and pepper. Dusted with flour. 

Preheated cast iron pan to very hot, added canola oil and butter, and seared a few minutes on each side to get a crust. Removed to a plate. (4 pieces of chicken fit in my skillet at one time).

Added about 10 garlic cloves and more butter. Sauteed a few mins longer. Then added a little flour (maybe 2 tablespoons). Sauteed another minute, then added chicken broth, then sherry, then milk. Let thicken and let garlic partially soften. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Then added chicken and accumulated juices back to the pan. Baked at 425 for about 10 mins. Topped with fresh chopped chives. The chicken did end up tough because I overcooked it. Really liked the flavor of the sauce. 

Will make this again. 

Tortellini Pasta Salad

Tortellini Pasta Salad

I realized I forgot to blog about this. I made a tortellini pasta salad. It was decent. I might make it again.

cheese tortellini (tri color if possible)

cubed pepperoni

broccoli

onions

cubed cheddar

olives

cherry tomatoes, sliced

italian dressing

pesto

grated parmesan

Soup Series 6 - Chinese Veggie Curry Soup w/ Clear Broth (Spicy)

Chinese Veggie Curry Soup w/ Clear Broth (Spicy)

Chat GPT helped me replicate this soup I had at a local Chinese restaurant that was incredible. Theirs was vegetarian, but I used won ton powder to make mine. I also threw some wontons in it that had meat.

chili oil

dried chili peppers (Sichuan), you could substitute dried arbol chilis if you had to

chili pepper flakes (Sichuan)

carrots

parsnips

onions

garlic cloves

ginger (fresh preferred, but if not, use powdered)

mushrooms

broccoli

wonton soup mix powder (purchased at Asian Market) -or- any flavorful broth

light soy sauce ("regular" soy sauce)

dark soy sauce

sugar

curry powder

white pepper

sliced green onions

Rough chop the onions, carrots, parsnips and sauté in the chili oil until softened. Add sliced garlic cloves (about 5) and sliced mushrooms. Add 2 dried chili peppers, some chili flakes, and ginger and sauté a few minutes longer. Add water and wonton soup powder or boroth. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer. Add light and dark soy, white pepper, curry powder, about 1/2 tsp sugar. Adjust seasonings adding more chili flakes if desired. Add chopped broccoli and frozen won ton noodles, cook a few minutes. Add sliced green onions, and serve. This would also be great with some glass noodles or wontons or dumplings in it, green beans, snap peas, bok choy etc. I also want to try this with different broths. Some recipes called for additional turmeric to add more color.