Beef and Butternut Squash Chili

Again, I made a huge quantity. Feel free to cut it down:

2-3 lbs. ground beef
2 chopped peppers (I used all 4 colors, 1/2 pepper of each color)
2 chopped onions
5 minced garlic cloves
1 large can stewed tomatoes
1 can whole tomatoes
2 cans Rotel tomatoes
3 C. kidney beans (or cans - I used 1 each of light red, dark red, and white kidneys)
2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2-4 C. beef broth (or more, depending on desired liquid level of finished soup)
1-2 Tbsp. ground cumin
1-2 Tbsp. chili powder
2-3 C. frozen corn
other seasonings - I added SPG and garlic salt

Brown hamburger; drain well. Saute onion and peppers in olive oil. Add all ingredients except frozen corn. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until squash is tender. Stir in corn and cook just until corn is tender (not even 5 minutes).

It was deliciously savory and offset nicely by slices of French baguette spread with Irish butter.

Thank you, Christine, for this delicious recipe!

Copycat Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Soup)

When I make this, I make a huge quantity. You can cut it down to size according to what your family needs. The quantities are very loose, as I just sort of throw it all together and make as much as I want.

1-2 lb. Italian sausage (I use mild.)
at least 5-6 large baking potatoes, cut in half and sliced into 1/4 in. slices
2 large onions, chopped
1 C. crumbled bacon (or more)
4-5 cloves minced garlic
5-6 C. kale or Swiss chard (I use the entire huge bag of kale from BJ's)
1-2 quarts chicken stock (see recipe here)
1-2 C. heavy whipping cream (I use 1 C. whipping cream, and the rest half and half.)

Cook sausage in cast iron skillet like you would hamburger... press out of casings and cook until crumbly. Drain.

Place onions, potatoes, broth, and garlic in large soup pot, and cook over medium heat until potatoes are done.

Add sausage and bacon. Season with SPG to taste. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

Turn heat to low and add kale and cream. Heat through and serve. (Don't cook the kale... just add it to the hot liquid and then serve, so it stays kinda firm.)

Yum, yum, yum!

Cinnamon Rolls

Elanore's birthday breakfast request, which we shared with some folks who wanted the recipe...

DOUGH:
yeast (1 pkg, or 1 scant Tbsp.)
1 C. warm milk
1/2 C. sugar (I use 1/3 C.)
1/3 C. butter, melted
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 C. flour

If you have a bread machine, process above ingredients in whatever manner your bread machine requires. If not, dissolve yeast in milk. Add other ingredients. Mix well. Knead dough into a large ball. Rise 1 hour.

Process dough in one of two ways, depending on if you want huge Cinnabon-style cinnamon rolls, or smaller-sized ones. For the former, roll the entire ball of dough into one rectangle, 21 in. long by 16 in. wide, 1/4 in. thick. For the latter, divide the dough into two balls, and process them similarly, but the rectangles will be less thick.

Spread softened butter (1/3 C. total) over entire surface of the rectangle(s). Sprinkle with a mixture of 1 C. brown sugar combined with 2-3 Tbsp cinnamon.

Roll rectangle (from the 21" side) to bottom edge. For huge rolls, cut the single roll into 1 3/4 in. slices and place 6 per baking pan. Bake 15-18 minutes. For smaller rolls, cut each of the two rolls in half and then in half again and then in thirds to make 12, and place in rows of four on a baking dish. I use a Pampered Chef stoneware bake pan. The small ones bake in less time... maybe 10 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees.

Once slightly cooled, frost rolls with icing. (See recipe below.)

ICING:
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 box cream cheese, softened (I use Neufchatel.)
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar (I don't use this much.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt (opt., I omit)

Combine ingredients and beat icing until fluffy. Coat rolls.

It is our family's tradition to make these rolls on Easter morning. We make a "cross" out of frosted cinnamon rolls (on a large rectangular platter), and we make a "tomb" out of unfrosted ones stacked up on each other. (The "stone" rolled away is made of sausage patties.)

Tango Stew

Veal Marengo - original recipe here
Marengo, à la [muh-RENG-goh]
A veal or chicken dish in which the meat is sautéed in olive oil, then braised with tomatoes, onions, olives, garlic, white wine or brandy and seasonings.
Sometimes scrambled eggs accompany the dish. It’s said to have been created by Napoleon’s chef after the 1800 Battle of Marengo.
2¼ lb. cubed stewing meat - veal, lamb, chicken, pork (use some bones)
6 Tbsp. flour
salt and pepper to taste
4 Tbsp. oil
1 C. onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste*
1 C. diced tomatoes*
1 C. dry white wine
3 C. beef broth

1 C. white mushrooms, quartered
1 C. pearl onions (opt.)
12 – 15 Kalamata olives (opt.)
1/2 C. chopped fresh parsley, as needed

In a bowl, toss veal in seasoned flour to coat.
In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown veal cubes.
Transfer veal to a slow cooker.
In the same skillet, over medium-high heat, cook onion, garlic, tomato paste and tomatoes.*
Add white wine and reduce by half.
Stir mixture into the slow cooker and add beef broth.
Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours.
Add mushrooms, pearl onions and olives.
Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes.
When meat is done, adjust seasoning and check consistency of sauce.
Stir in chopped parsley.
Serve over your favorite pasta noodles.
*We used a whole can of diced tomatoes (14.5 oz), a whole can of tomato paste (6 oz) and a can of Rotel diced tomatoes (10 oz). All these (except the last item) are in lieu of, not in addition to, the items of the recipe. For wine I took the cheapest Chardonnay. It hurts to take a real good wine for cooking, unless, of course, you're sipping while you're cooking.

Nanny's Cheese Grits

6 C. water
2 tsp. salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 C. quick-cooking grits
1 1/2 sticks butter (I use only 1)
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. Tabasco
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed

Cook grits according to package. Add butter and cheese. Stir until melted. Add seasoned salt, Tabasco, and eggs. Bake uncovered 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Aunt Kim's Monkey Bread

My sister's children called these "Monkey Balls" when they were little, and somehow the name has stuck. It is about as junky and unhealthy as they come, but inevitably one of my children asks for it each year for a birthday breakfast. This year is no exception.

3 cans canned biscuits
1 C. sugar/2 tsp. cinnamon - mixture to roll them in
1 stick butter
1 C. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Break (or cut, for ease) biscuits into fourths. Roll in sugar mixture and stack in well-buttered Bundt pan. Pour extra sugar mix from rolling over top. Meanwhile, melt butter. Add brown sugar and vanilla. Stir until just boiling, then drizzle over mixture in Bundt pan. Bake for 35 mins. at 350 degrees. Turn upside down onto plate and serve warm by "slicing"/pulling apart and spooning onto plates.

Brunch Casserole

Everyone in the world probably already has this recipe, but I'm making it this weekend at the Beach House and I didn't want to have to take my recipe card with me. So, here it is...

6 slices store-bought bread, crusts removed
6 eggs
2 C. milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard (opt.)
1 lb. sausage, fried & drained
1 1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 C. onion, chopped

Mix eggs, milk, salt, and (opt.) mustard. Set aside. Butter one side of each slice of bread and make a bottom layer in a 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle with sausage and cheese. Pour egg mixture on top. Cover and let stand in refrigerator overnight. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until center is set.

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

This is perfect for when I find that I have too many peppers on hand, either from a bountiful garden harvest or from an overzealous, duplicate Costco purchase.

The original recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book under "Stuffed Green Peppers." When I search online, there are only different recipes from them for stuffed peppers, so I suppose they've updated it several times since my "new" cookbook was published in 1989! It's a classic, though, and so easy. We love it!

We make this version instead of stuffing the filling inside whole or half peppers, as is traditionally done. We like it better this way.

Of course, to feed my large family, we need a large quantity. The recipe appears below in two versions: the first is already doubled(ish), the second is already quadrupled(ish). The original is half of the first, and fits in one 11x7 pan. One of these years I suppose that size will be right again for just the two of us, but for now, it's large quantities around here.

Casserole for 4-6 (Makes one 9x13 pan.)
This is the original post from 2009.

3-4 sweet bell peppers, coarsely chopped into chunks
2 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 15-oz can tomatoes, undrained
2/3 C. long-grain rice
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dried basil
salt and pepper (or SPG)
1-2 C. shredded cheese (calls for American; I use the 2 C. Kraft melting blend bag)

1. First, cook the meat and onion in a skillet and drain.
(Often, I cook large batches of meat ahead of time and freeze them in 2-lb. quantities. If I've done this, I'll thaw it out and just saute the onion in olive oil and combine them. I like this better because the onion retains its flavor better and I don't have to drain grease out of the meat on the cooking day.)

2. Stir in undrained tomatoes (smash them up in small pieces with your fingers), uncooked rice, Worcestershire, basil, 1 C. water, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. (I use 1 tsp. SPG)

3. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer until rice is tender (usually 20-30 mins.)

4. While that is cooking, I chop the peppers into chunks and generously line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with them. (You could easily half the recipe and use an 11x7 for a smaller family.) You want them on top of each other and almost halfway up the side of the pan. I always spray the pan first, but don't know if you'd really need to. By the time I finish getting the peppers ready, there are usually 5-10 minutes left on the timer for the meat mixture, so I put this pan of peppers in the preheated oven for a couple of minutes to soften them up just a bit.

5. When the meat/rice mix is ready, I stir in 1/2-1 C. of the cheese, then spoon the entire mixture on top of the peppers. I top with the remaining cheese from the package (usually about a cup) and put it back in the oven to melt the cheese. They originally suggest putting the meat mixture on it, baking it at 375 for 15-20 minutes, then topping it with cheese. I find that if I pre-soften the peppers just a tad the way I mentioned, this cooking time is overkill and I just go ahead and put the cheese on and stick it in the oven for a very few minutes until it is nicely melted. Everything else is hot and ready.

Casserole for a Crowd (Makes two 8x12 pans.)
This is a duplicate version I accidentally posted in 2015. It has morphed a bit over the years.

6-8 large sweet peppers of any color combination or variety
3 pounds ground hamburger (or combination of hamburger and Italian sausage)
1 large onion, diced
2 15-oz cans tomatoes, broken up (undrained)
1 1/2 C. long-grain white rice (uncooked)
1/4 C. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. dried basil, oregano, or Italian seasoning
2 C. water
2 tsp. SPG (homemade salt/pepper/garlic salt blend)
2 C. sharp cheese, shredded (I use a combination of sharp cheddar and parmesan, but any will do.)

1. Remove stems and guts from peppers, then cut into generously sized squares. Layer them in the bottom of 2 greased 8x12 pans. (If you're not going to pre-cook them a bit as indicated above, don't double them up too much or they won't cook well.)

2. Cook the meat(s) and onion until meat is done and onion is tender. Drain fat.

3. Stir in undrained tomatoes, uncooked rice, Worcestershire, basil, water, SPG.

4. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

5. Stir in 1 C. of the cheese. Spread this filling mixture on top of the uncooked peppers in your casserole dish(es).

6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until heated through and peppers are crisp-tender.

7. Top with remaining cheese and let stand 1-2 minutes before serving.

Shrimp and Feta Casserole

2 eggs
1 C evaporated milk
1 C plain yogurt
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 lb swiss cheese, shredded
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb angel hair pasta, cooked
1 16 oz jar salsa (I used the yummy fresh kind from the produce section of Publix)
1 lb medium shrimp, uncooked and peeled (I used the frozen bag that has about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom and sides of an 8 x 12 dish with cooking spray. In separate bowl, blend eggs, milk, yogurt, feta cheese, swiss cheese, basil oregano and garlic. Spread half of pasta over bottom of baking dish. Cover with salsa. Add half of shrimp. Spread remainig pasta over shrimp. Pour and spread egg mix over pasta. Add remaining shrimp and top with mozzarella. Bake 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Chicken With Pasta

6 to 8 boneless chicken breasts (I sliced them into about 9 big strips each breast)
8 oz cream cheese
2 C fresh mushrooms sliced (big slices)
1/2 stick butter
1 pkg dry Italian dressing (Good Seasons)
1 C White wine or white cooking wine
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 box bow tie pasta

Cook chicken, cream cheese, mushrooms, butter, Italian dressing, wine and mushroom soup in crockpot on low for 8-10 hours, stirring occasionally (my new crockpot is SO hot that I only cooked it 4 hours on low and it was plenty!!) Serve over cooked and drained pasta.