All posts by aaron.cure

Soups

Tomato Basil Chicken Stew

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Tomato Basil Chicken Stew

This delicious Tomato Basil Chicken Stew recipe is hearty, healthy, and so comforting.
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small White Onion Chopped
  • 2 ea Carrots Peeled And Diced
  • 2 stalk Celery Diced
  • 4 clove garlic
  • 28 oz Whole Tomatoes (With Their Juices)
  • 14 oz Cannelinni Beans
  • 3 cup Shredded Cooked Chicken
  • 2 handful Baby Spinach
  • 1/4 cup Fresh Basil Roughly Chopped
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

Instructions
 

  • Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Saute for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add garlic and sautee for an additional minute or two until fragrant.
  • Add in remaining ingredients, and stir to combine. Use a long spoon to crush the tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer partially-covered for 10 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
  • Serve with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.
  • **Or, you can add all ingredients except the cheese to a slow cooker, stir to combine, cook on high for 3-4 hours (or low for 6-8), then serve with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.**
Salads & Sides

Rotkohl

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Rotkohl

Red Cabbage
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Ingredients
  

  • 3 lb Red Cabbage
  • 3 Sour Green Apple
  • 1 large Onion
  • 1/4 cup Lard
  • 3 Cloves
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • Salt To taste
  • 4 tbsp Sugar
  • 5 tbsp White Vinegar
  • 1 cup White Wine

Instructions
 

  • Peel then chop up the apples. Put the lard in a large pot. Add onions and cook on medium heat until browned. Add shredded cabbage apples vinegar white wine sugar salt cloves and bay leaf in that order. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for two to three hours. If there is too much liquid add a little bit of cornstarch to make it thicker.
Salads & Sides

Butternut Squash Casserole

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Butternut Squash Casserole

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Ingredients
  

  • 2 cup Squash Cooked Drained Mashed I Cut It In Half Scoop The Seeds Put It Cut-Side-Down In A Baking Dish With 1/2 Inch Of Water And Bake It On 350 Degrees For About An Hour
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1/3 cup Melted Butter
  • 1/2 cup Milk
  • 3/4-1 cup Sugar To Taste This Year I Used Maple Syrup Instead.
  • 1 tbsp Ginger Freshly Grated or 1/2 tsp powdered ginger (I use powdered)
  • 1/2 tsp Coconut Flavor

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients in blender pour into lightly greased 1-1/2 qt. casserole dish bake at 350 degrees 1 hour or until firm in center I have found it is never done in an hour...closer to 90 minutes but maybe that is because I always have so much other stuff in the oven at Christmas.

Notes

from Steve and Jan
Soups

15 Bean Soup

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15 Bean Soup

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Ingredients
  

  • 2 cup Beans From Mixture Below
  • 3 quart Water
  • 1 lb Ham Pieces/Bone
  • 1 large Can V8 Juice
  • 1 large Onion Chopped
  • 1 clove Garlic Chopped
  • 1 large Can Whole Tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • beans. Cover with water and add 1 tbsp Salt. Soak Overnight And Drain Off. Add Remaining Ingredients And Cook All Day Over Low Heat. Will Require At Least 4 Hours Simmering.

Beans: 1 each of:

  • Bolita
  • Adzuki
  • Small red beans
  • Navy
  • Green split peas
  • Lentils
  • Pinto
  • Black turtle beans
  • Pequot
  • Garbanzo
  • Great northern
  • Lg. white lime
  • Yellow split peas
  • Red lentils
  • Black eyed peas
  • Barley

Instructions
 

  • Wash 2 cups beans. Cover with water and add 1 tbl. Salt. Soak overnight and drain off. Add remaining ingredients and cook all day over low heat. Will require at least 4 hours simmering.
Soups

Cabbage Chowder

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Cabbage Chowder

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Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb Salt Pork Diced
  • 1 large Onion Chopped
  • 2 medium Potatoes Diced
  • 8 cup Cabbage Finely Chopped
  • 2 cube Chicken Bouillon
  • 3 cup Water
  • 2 tbsp Flour
  • 3 cup Milk

Instructions
 

  • Fry pork. Saute onion til tender. Add potatoes and cabbage stir. Until cabbage wilts. Add bouillion and 2 c. water. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes. Stir in flour which has been mixed with c. water until smooth. Stir soup until thickened. Add milk and salt and pepper to taste.
Desserts

Zucchini Brownies

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Zucchini Brownies

These are the BEST Zucchini brownies ever! They're ooey, gooey, and SUPER fudgy. And NO one will know they have zucchini inside!
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Ingredients
  

FOR THE BROWNIES:

  • 2 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 1/2 cup Sugar
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 cup Zucchini (1 large or 2 small Zucchinis)
  • 3-5 tbsp Water
  • 1/2 cup Chopped Walnuts Optional

FOR THE FROSTING:

  • 3 tbsp Cocoa Powder
  • 1/4 cup Butter Melted
  • 2 cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1/4 cup Milk
  • 1 pinch Salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13" baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • Using an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir. Fold in the zucchini. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes so the batter can absorb the moisture from the zucchini. Then, if your mixture is still very powdery, add up to 5 tablespoons water (start with 1 tablespoon and work up from there, stirring well after each addition). The batter will be very thick but shouldn't be powdery. (It partially depends on how wet your zucchini is!) Add walnuts, if desired. You may need to use your hands to work the water in instead of a spoon. The dough is super thick, like cookie dough. Do not add too much water! Spread in prepared pan.
  • Bake 25-30 minutes until the brownies spring back when gently touched.
  • To make the frosting: Whisk butter, cocoa, salt, and powdered sugar. Whisk in milk and vanilla. Spread over cooled brownies. Cut into squares and chill to semi-set. The frosting hardens slightly on the top but stays wet and gooey underneath.
  • These brownies are best stored in an airtight container and eaten within 2 days. Chill them to make them last an extra day. They're what I call "fork" brownies because they are so gooey.
  • *NOTE* People have been saying these brownies are cakey. Every time I've made them they turn out super fudgy like in the photos. The problem is how much water you add. It's hard to say how much to add because every time I've made these I've added a different amount. It really does depend on your zucchini. The batter will be very thick and need help spreading in the pan. If your batter is at all liquidy or thin you're going to get a more cakey brownie.
Breads

No-Knead Crusty White Bread

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No-Knead Crusty White Bread

The most basic of all no-knead loaves, this is a wonderful way to get into yeast-bread baking. The easy stir-together dough rests in your refrigerator, developing flavor all the time, till you're ready to bake. About 90 minutes before you want to serve bread, grab a handful of dough, shape it, let it rise, then bake for 30 minutes. The result? Incredible, crusty artisan-style bread. If you're a first-time bread-baker, you'll never believe this bread came out of your own oven. If you're a seasoned yeastie, you'll love this recipe's simplicity.
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Ingredients
  

  • 3 cup Water lukewarm
  • 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 tbsp Salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast

Instructions
 

  • The flour/liquid ratio is important in this recipe. If you measure flour by sprinkling it into your measuring cup, then gently sweeping off the excess, use 7 1/2 cups. If you measure flour by dipping your cup into the canister, then sweeping off the excess, use 6 1/2 cups. Most accurate of all, and guaranteed to give you the best results, if you measure flour by weight, use 32 ounces.
  • Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, or a large (6-quart), food-safe plastic bucket. For first-timers, "lukewarm" means about 105 degrees F, but don't stress over getting the temperatures exact here. Comfortably warm is fine; "OUCH, that's hot!" is not. Yeast is a living thing; treat it nicely.
  • Mix and stir everything together to make a very sticky, rough dough. If you have a stand mixer, beat at medium speed with the beater blade for 30 to 60 seconds. If you don't have a mixer, just stir-stir-stir with a big spoon or dough whisk till everything is combined.
  • Next, you're going to let the dough rise. If you've made the dough in a plastic bucket, you're all set - just let it stay there, covering the bucket with a lid or plastic wrap; a shower cap actually works well here. If you've made the dough in a bowl that's not at least 6-quart capacity, transfer it to a large bowl; it's going to rise a lot. There's no need to grease the bowl, though you can if you like; it makes it a bit easier to get the dough out when it's time to bake bread.
  • Cover the bowl or bucket, and let the dough rise at room temperature for 2 hours. Then refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, or for up to about 7 days. (If you're pressed for time, skip the room-temperature rise, and stick it right into the fridge). The longer you keep it in the fridge, the tangier it'll get; if you chill it for 7 days, it will taste like sourdough. Over the course of the first day or so, it'll rise, then fall. That's OK; that's what it's supposed to do.
  • When you're ready to make bread, sprinkle the top of the dough with flour; this will make it easier to grab a hunk. Grease your hands, and pull off about 1/4 to 1/3 of the dough - a 14-ounce to 19-ounce piece, if you have a scale. It'll be about the size of a softball, or a large grapefruit.
  • Plop the sticky dough onto a floured work surface, and round it into a ball, or a longer log. Don't fuss around trying to make it perfect; just do the best you can.
  • Place the dough on a piece of parchment (if you're going to use a baking stone); or onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Sift a light coating of flour over the top; this will help keep the dough moist as it rests before baking.
  • Let the dough rise for about 45 to 60 minutes. It won't appear to rise upwards that much; rather, it'll seem to settle and expand. Preheat your oven (and baking stone, if you're using one) to 450 degrees F while the dough rests. Place a shallow metal or cast iron pan (not glass, Pyrex, or ceramic) on the lowest oven rack, and have 1 cup of hot water ready to go.
  • When you're ready to bake, take a sharp knife and slash the bread 2 or 3 times, making a cut about 1/2" deep. The bread may deflate a bit; that's OK, it'll pick right up in the hot oven.
  • Place the bread in the oven, and carefully pour the 1 cup hot water into the shallow pan on the rack beneath. It'll bubble and steam; close the oven door quickly.
  • Bake the bread for 25 to 35 minutes, until it's a deep, golden brown.
  • Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a rack. Store leftover bread in a plastic bag at room temperature.