Hello Foodie Friends!

I’m back!  Sorry I’ve been lax for sometime now; had a case of writer’s block…but it’ great to be back!

When I went outside and picked up the paper this morning, the Christmas song “Baby it’s cold outside” popped in my head.  As I am shivering, and cannot wait to get back into the house, my Minnesota friends are looking at a high of 14 degrees today.

I like the cooler days in Tucson, especially after the warm summers!  However my blood has thinned and when the high is only supposed to be 63 degrees, I think that is cold!  So today at Kuisine by Kathy, we are making Chili and Cornbread for dinner.

There are so many different recipes for chili out there; but I always go to the standby that my Dad always made.  You can add as much chili powder as you like and serve it with cornbread or topped with corn chips and salsa, or eat it plain as we did when we were kids.

This recipe makes a large batch; but it freezes really well for another cold day!

DAD’S CHILI SOUP ~

Brown 2 1/2 #’s of lean ground beef with 1 chopped onion, salt, pepper and chili powder to taste in a large soup kettle.  Add to the kettle all cans NOT drained!

2 cans of Pinto Beans

2 cans of Chili Beans

2 cans of Red Beans

2 cans of Kidney Beans

4 cans of tomato soup

4 cans of diced tomatoes

Let simmer in crockpot all day on low – or for a fast dinner, bring to a boil and then simmer for a half hour.

For the CORNBREAD ~

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

4oz. can of chopped green chili’s

1 small jar of pimento

1 can of cream style corn

2oz. grated monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

4 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.  Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs, peppers, pimento and corn; blend well.  Add cheeses and salt, baking powder, flour and cornmeal.  Blend well and pour into pan.  Bake at least 1 hour or until the center is not soft.  Serve warm with chili!

Happy Cooking!
Chef Kathy

Beer cheese soup is most popular in the Midwest.  I always made it for parties in the winter time and served it with some crusty bread!  You can use whatever beer you have on hand for the soup.  Since it only calls for 6 oz. of beer, you get to drink the other 6 oz.

The trick to beer cheese soup, is don’t let it come to a boil or it will scorch.  You can add browned bacon, ham cubes or even browned sausage to the soup.

MINNESOTA BEER CHEESE SOUP ~

1/2 cup + 4 T. butter

1 cup flour

4 cups chicken stock

1 1/2 cups milk

6 oz. beer

16 oz. cheez whiz

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1 small can diced chili peppers

Cooked bacon, sausage or ham (optional)

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter and mix with flour until blended.  Heat on low for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally.  Add chicken stock and milk.  Cook until smooth and thick.  Add Cheez Whiz and mix until melted and smooth.  Add beer and Worcestershire sauce.  Mix in chives and chili peppers and meat of choice.  Simmer on low for 15 minutes, stirring constantly!

Don’t forget the crusty bread for dipping!

Cheers!
Chef Kathy

I love soup!  We eat soup at our house every season!  I think if you stay away from the cream and cheese, it is fairly healthy for you!  I had forgotten about this recipe; I got it from my aunt in Indiana a few years back.  If you can’t find the sweet Italian sausage, I have substituted chicken sausage.  It works best when slicing the sausage to put it in the freezer to firm it up.  Then use a really sharp knife.

I also use the pre-shredded coleslaw mix to lessen the time it would take to shred a head of cabbage.

MINESTRONE SOUP~

1# Sweet Italian Sausage

1 T. Olive oil

1 T. minced garlic

1 cup diced onion

1 cup sliced carrots

2 tsp. dried basil

2 small zucchini – sliced

16 oz. can diced tomatoes, not drained

2 cans (10 3/4 oz) beef bouillon

2 cups shredded cabbage

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

16oz. Great Northern Beans, not drained

Brown sliced sausage in olive oil, along with the garlic and onion until soft.  Add the rest of the ingredients (except the beans), bring to a boil and simmer for one hour.  Add beans and heat for additional 20 minutes. 

Serves 8

Enjoy!

Cheers!

Chef Kathy

Yesterday when I woke up and went to the refrigerator for some cream for my coffee….I couldn’t believe all of the Christmas leftovers that had accumulated…Seems like we have been eating ham and eggs, ham sandwiches, plain ham and the container was not going down!  Then when trying to get the bottle of creamer from the back of the refrigerator, the ham bone fell out and hit the floor….guess that was my clue to get a pot of bean and ham soup going!

Everyone makes soup a little different; I have a bad habit of just dumping whatever I have in the refrigerator in there and usually end up having to get a larger pot; but today was different – I actually followed a recipe (kind of)  I modified it somewhat.  The original recipe came from The Canadian Living Test Kitchen.  The recipe intrigued me because of the addition of fresh kale to it!  Wow!  I never have put kale in my bean soup before.  I thought I would give it a try!  The last time I ate kale, I was pretty young and didn’t like it.  I remember my Dad boiling it in a big pot with ring bologna, water, pearl barley, carrots and potatoes.  It is a German dish I guess….I recall the kale leaves were tough in some spots – after I did some research yesterday, I guess we were eating the stem… 

Kale I found out is a member of the cabbage family.  The leaves of the kale just do not form into “heads” like a cabbage does.  Kale has lots of nutritional value!  Beta Carotene, calcium, vitamins K & C and the list goes on.  The best part is that if cooked kale doesn’t lose much of its’ nutrients like a lot of other vegetables would.  So it is a great way to get some extra nutrition in your diet by adding it to your soup!

For this recipe, I washed the kale leaves thoroughly, then took a small pairing knife and cut away the leaves from the stem (the stem goes all the way to the top of the leaf)  then stacked the kale leaves in a nice pile then cut the leaves into small “ribbons” for the soup.

Here is the recipe..hope you like it as well as we did!

Bean and Ham Soup with Kale and Garlic Croutons:

First, get a bag of those 17 Bean and Barley mix (about 2 1/2 cups) – I get mine at Trader Joes

The next question is ~ do you have to soak your beans over night?  I think yes, you have to soak your beans; but not over night.  This is what I did and it turned out great!  I placed the 2 1/2 cups in a large kettle and filled it with 8 cups or so of cold water.  Then I brought the beans to a rolling boil on medium heat(pot was covered), boiled for a minute, removed from heat (still covered) and let set for 1 hour.  Then drained and rinsed the beans.

Second, get a large soup kettle, the bigger the better!  Place you ham bone in the kettle so you can make the stock and add the following:

2 onions, peeled and quartered

4 stalks of celery, leaves and all, quartered (not the whole bunch of celery, just the stalks)

8 sprigs of fresh thyme

4 bay leaves

2 tsp. whole peppercorns

24 cups of water

Cover and cook on low heat, skimming off foam as necessary, for about 2 hours or until the meat is coming off the ham bone.  When done, remove ham bone and pick off meat, discarding fat.  Strain the stock through a colander and set aside.

In that same large soup kettle, take 3 T. of olive oil, 1 large onion – chopped, 6 stalks celery – thinly sliced, 6 carrots – sliced, 6 cloves of minced garlic and saute for 10 minutes over med. heat.  Add back in the stock, beans, more ham if desired, 2 cans (5 1/2 oz) tomato paste, 1 can diced tomatoes with basil and oregano, salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.  Simmer for 2 hours or until beans are done.  Add the 6 cups of kale ribbons at the end and let cook for 10 minutes.

While the kale is cooking – I made some garlic croutons out of the leftover dinner rolls that I had – they were delicious!

In a bowl, toss together 3 cups of cubed leftover bread with 3 T. olive oil.  Spread out on a jelly roll pan.  Sprinkle bread with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Bake at 400 degrees tossing once for about 6 – 8 minutes or until crisp.  Great on this soup!

Happy Cooking

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