Tag: recipe

Nani’s New Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Wild Rice Soup
Wild Rice Soup

Wild Rice Soup
Wild Rice Soup

Everyone in Minnesota loves Chicken Wild Rice Soup. It is a staple on many Minnesota restaurant menus and every family has their favorite recipe. I have a recipe on this blog called “World’s Best Chicken Wild Rice Soup” and it is! Unfortunately it is loaded with fat and calories. I have found a new recipe that I love almost as much and it is much kinder to the waist line. Try it and I am sure you will agree. It will become your family’s second favorite Chicken Wild Rice Soup Recipe.

Ingredients

  • 6 to 8 cups chicken broth, homemade or canned
  • 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 finely chopped carrots
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
  • 3 to 4 cups cooked wild rice
  • 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
  • 2 to 3 cups raw spinach leaves, optional

Directions
Combine the chicken broth with all ingredients except the chicken, wild rice, and spinach. Simmer for 1/2 to 1 hour. Add chicken and wild rice and cook for 5 to 10 more minutes. Then add the spinach leaves and serve.

Nani Tips
I like to use a leftover roasted or broasted chicken carcass to make the broth. I usually add some canned broth, too.

Categories
Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies made with Coconut Oil

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recently coconut oil has fallen back into favor after years of being the “bad” oil. I have been substituting it in some of my favorite recipes with great results. Try my Best Almond Biscotti and Best Ever Scones, using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and butter. After making both of these with coconut oil and loving the results, I decided to try chocolate chip cookies made with coconut oil. Oh my, to quote my husband, ” These are the best cookies I’ve ever eaten”. They truly are delectable. Not only are they rich and chewy but the hint of coconut gives them a unique and pleasing flavor.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
I was really not prepared for how wonderful they were going to taste.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup coconut oil, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips (the darker the better)

Directions
Beat together the oil and sugars until fluffy and then add the eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and gradually stir into the sugar mixture, then stir in chocolate chips. Mixture will be stiff.

Using 2 Tablespoons for each cookie, drop onto a lightly greased cooking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove to wire rack for cooling.

Easy Fall Off the Bone Ribs

Ribs
Ribs

I recently found this recipe on the Penzey Spice Website. I like to smoke ribs, but was looking for an easy oven method. These ribs literally fall off the bone when they are done. Since most of the cooking is done in the oven, they do not have much of a smokey flavor like smoked ribs, but they got rave reviews from my testing crew. I love main dishes that I can put in the oven and walk away and pull them out at serving time with no last minute fuss. Try these soon. They will surely become a family favorite.

<Ribs Ribs[/caption]strong>Ingredients

  • 3 racks of pork loin aka baby back ribs
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoon Kosher flake salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 3/4 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 36 ounces liquid, beer, apple juice, etc

Directions
Combine all of the seasonings in a small bowl or baggie. Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. Pat the ribs dry with a paper towel. Rub the ribs on both sides with the rib rub. Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or several hours. Remove from frig and grill them on both sides on your charcoal grill. I did mine about 10 minutes on each side at about 350 degrees. You could also brown them under the broiler.
Lay each rack on a double layer of aluminum foil. The foil needs to be wide enough to cover the ribs and long enough to tightly roll up and seal the ends. If your foil doesn’t quite make it around, just add another piece and make sure the pieces are sealed tight. Before you seal the second end, pour in 12 ounces of liquid into each foil packet. Now seal that end, put your foil packets on cookie sheets and bake in a 250 degree oven for about 6 hours. No need to peek at them, they will get done, and the time isn’t too crucial.
Now unwrap, transfer to a serving plate and enjoy them with your favorite BBQ sauce

NANI TIPS

  • My family’s favorite BBQ is Famous Dave’s Rich and Sassy!
  • Substitute your favorite rib rub

Best Whole Wheat Pancakes

Whole Wheat PancakesHere is a great recipe for some really good and easy whole wheat pancakes. They are light and delicious. Whip up a batch for your next Sunday morning breakfast. They whole family will love them.
Ingredients

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 3 Tablespoons oil
  • 1 Tablespoon vinegar
  • 1 Cup milk
  • 2 eggs

Directions
Pour the 1 Tablespoon vinegar into a small bowl. Add the cup of milk to it. Let set for 10 min.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, add oil, eggs and milk and vinegar mixture. Mix just until blended.
Pour pancakes onto a hot greased griddle. When first side is brown, flip to other side and brown.
Serve with butter and syrup or your favorite pancake toppings.

Garlic Balsamic Reduction Sauce

Balsamic Reduction Sauce

I have been attempting to perfect balsamic reduction sauce. I finally made one yesterday that I am quite pleased
with. My first attempt at making a balsamic reduction sauce resulted in a caramelized lump of goo. My second attempt was better, but not quite right. I decided that I needed a double boiler. So I ordered this one from Amazon and when it arrived I tried again. The double boiler and the brand of vinegar seem to be key to the success of the sauce. After a few tries, I am quite happy with yesterday’s result. On my first couple of attempts I used balsamic vinegar from Trader Joe’s. It was much too tart and I needed to add some brown sugar to it. Next I tried it with Bertolli balsamic vinegar. It was perfect with no added sugar. This sauce is excellent on vegetables, stir fry or meat. I will be making it again and again, trying different combinations of herbs and spices. Here is my recipe:

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Bertolli balsamic vinegar
  • 4 to 6 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced

Directions
Pour the vinegar and garlic in the top pan of a double boiler. Fill the lower pan of double boiler with water and bring to a boil. Gently simmer the vinegar and garlic for about 45 minutes or until reduced to 1 cup. Do not let the vinegar boil hard. Let cool and enjoy.

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Categories
Cookies

Best Almond Biscotti

Almond Biscotti

Nothing is better with a cup of coffee than biscotti. I have always been a bit afraid of making it. Not sure why, just thought it would be hard to make. I found a recipe on All Recipes and decided to try it. Not only is it delicious, but so easy to make. I revised the recipe and made mine almond flavored. Next I want to add cocoa and try chocolate and after that maybe orange flavoring and craisins. If you have been hesitant to make biscotti, try this recipe, you can’t fail.

Almond Biscotti

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 Tablespoon almond flavoring
  • 1 cup slivered almond (roasting adds flavor)

Directions
In a medium bowl beat the eggs, oil, sugar and almond flavoring. Combine the flour and baking powder. Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture just until it forms a heavy dough. Do not overwork, it just needs to hold together. Divide the dough in half. Roll each piece into a log as long as the cookie sheet. Place it on a greased cookie sheet and then press down until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Square up the edges on much as possible. Repeat with the other half on another cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle use a pizza cutter and cut into 1/2 to 1 inch widths (as you can see from the picture I sliced mine a bit wider than the suggested 1/2″). Turn the slices on their side and return to oven for 8 minutes then remove from oven and turn on other side and bake another 8 minutes. Slices will be lightly toasted but still somewhat soft. Delicious!

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Super Bowl Salsa


My daughter loves salsa and thinks that she has mastered the perfect salsa. She got the recipe from her Mexican friend, Monica and has been fine tuning it to her taste. Make it to go with those chips on Super Bowl Sunday. I know you will love it.

Ingredients

  • 20 or so tomatillos (the smaller the sweeter)
  • 2 to 3 jalapenos chiles or serrano peppers
  • 5 cloves fresh garlic
  • 1 sweet white onion
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro
  • 2 tbsp caldo de pollo (chicken bouillon)
  • large pinch of Mexican oregano

Directions
Put tomatillos, chiles, and garlic into boiling water, boil for 5 minutes until soft. Then put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until flavors meld together. I like to refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving.

Nani Tip
Mexican oregano and caldo de pollo can be found in the Mexican section of some grocery stores or at a Mexican market.

Spiced Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Citrus Glaze

Here is a great dessert recipe for your Thanksgiving Day meal. It is easy and sure to please those in the family that don’t like the traditional pumpkin pie.
Ingredients

  • 2/3 C Oil
  • 1 C Canned Pumpkin
  • 2/3 C Water
  • 1 T Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1 Box Moist Spice Cake Mix
  • 1 Box Moist Yellow Cake Mix

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter & flour a 12-cup bundt pan. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, oil, pumpkin, water and pumpkin pie spice. Beat until well blended. Add the cake mixes and stir to combine. Transfer mixture to prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pan after cooling for a few minutes.
Glaze

  • Yellow Food Coloring
  • Red Food Coloring
  • 1 Pound Powdered Sugar
  • 1/3 C Orange Juice, No Pulp
  • 3 t Orange Liqueur

Combine 2 parts yellow food coloring with 4 parts red food coloring to make orange coloring. Whisk the powdered sugar, orange juice, orange liqueur and food coloring in a saucepan on low heat for 5 minutes or until the sugar melts. If the glaze seems too dry add more water or orange juice to reach the right consistency. Drizzle glaze over cake.

Nani’s Turkey and Black Bean Chili

I had some ground turkey that I wanted to use, so I searched my pantry to see what I might have to go with it. I found some black beans and tomatoes. It was a cool, fall day so I decided to make some chili. The chili was a huge success and another family favorite recipe has found it’s way into my blog.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 Tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • (2) 15 ounce cans seasoned black beans
  • (2) 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
  • (1) 6 ounce can tomato paste
  • red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Directions
Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil. Add ground turkey and brown. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 1 hour. Adjust seasonings to your tastes.

Nani Tip
If you are a Penzey spice fan, you can use 2 to 3 Tablespoons Arizona Dreaming in place of the spices or in addition to lesser amounts of the other spices.