Sausage and Kale Soup

It was our turn to bring soup to Sunday evening church; we play in a praise band there and we have a dinner between rehearsal and the service. Here's what I did...
I started by slicing the kielbasa, and simmering it in some water in order to get some of the fat cooked out. Then, I put it on a baking sheet and placed it in the oven to brown. Then I prepared the kale, removing the tough stem/rib, then rolling up the leaves and slicing/chopping it. I washed it and then put it in a salad spinner. I brought the ingredients with me to church and assembled it there. Basically, just threw everything in the pot: cooked sausage, chopped kale, 4 cans of white beans, 3 packages of chicken stock (only pictured 2, I know), a can of cream of celery soup, and water to cover. Seasonings included pepper, rosemary, oregano, dried onion flakes. I brought it to a boil, then simmered it until the kale was tender, about 40 minutes. Served with shaved Parmesan. There were quite a few folks that had never eaten kale before, and they loved the soup. One could vary the amounts, depending on taste. If you want it creamier, then use more cream of celery soup.

Kielbasa Breakfast

Saute diced potatoes, onion, and kiebasa until potatoes are tender. Make four "wells" in the pan, crack an egg into each. Cover and cook until almost done. Top with shredded cheese, add a bit of water, steam will help melt cheese, replace lid. I placed it under the broiler briefly to further melt the cheese until bubbly.

Spaghetti with Sausage and Veggies

Brown Italian sausage, drain fat, put into slow cooker. Add a bit of oil (canola or olive) to the pan, add diced vegetables: onion, carrot, red pepper, zucchini. I like to use the pre-shredded carrots, then further mince them in small pieces. Saute until they begin to get some color on them, adding a bit of crushed red pepper to taste. Put into slow cooker. Add some water to the pan to get all the browned bits off, pour into slow cooker. Add a can of your favorite .99 spaghetti sauce. yep. Towards the end of cooking, add some parmesan cheese and a bit of the pasta water to help thicken the sauce.

Pretzels

In a large bowl, I put some yeast, flour, brown sugar, warm water. When bubbly, I added more flour (some of it was high altitude, whole wheat), salt, a bit of oil. Added flour until it was able to turn out onto the flour covered counter. Kneaded, put in a bowl to rise. This is pretty much how I make bread, with the exception of using brown sugar to feed the yeast instead of white sugar or honey. After dough doubled, I punched it down, and divided it into 16 pieces (I used about 2 cups water, and enough flour to be no longer sticky). I rolled each piece into a rope, formed into a pretzel shape, pinching the ends so they wouldn't come apart. They raised a bit. Then I filled a large pot about 3/4 of the way with water, added a lot of baking soda (about 2/3 cup). I placed each pretzel into the water and let boil about 30-45 seconds, turning about halfway through. I took them out with a slotted spoon, drained breifly, then put back on baking sheet that I had sprinkled with cornmeal. The cornmeal acts as tiny ball bearings, making removal after baking much easier. I sprinkled each with coarse kosher salt. Baked at about 375-400 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, until nicely browned.
Cheese dip was simply jarred processed cheese, Miracle Whip, coarse mustard.

Cincinnati Coney's

Swedish Meatballs

Combine: ground beef, ground pork, crushed saltines, one egg, pepper, pinch of nutmeg. Form into meatballs. I placed them in the cast iron pan, then baked them in the oven. When done, put into slow cooker. Make gravy with drippings, add flour, chicken broth and cook until thickened. Pour over meatballs in cooker. Add half-n-half 30 minutes before serving (not pictured, I left to go to the music store to teach violin lessons, family ate before I got home).

Tomato Soup

Peel, seed, and dice tomatoes (drop into boiling water for 30 seconds, peel comes right off). Cook in butter or bacon fat (yep) with a small amount of diced onion, add a pinch of baking soda to cut acid. Add a bit of flour to make a tomato roux, cook a bit longer. Add milk, stir. Yep, I love pepper. Saltines provided the extra salt, I didn't add any during cooking (because of baking soda, too).

Apple Pie

Crust from the red and white checked cookbook, inside back cover. Used butter and a bit more water.
Filling: some apples that a friend found on a tree out in the wild (thanks, Christine!), peeled, cored, sliced and tossed in orange juice. Add brown sugar, some flour, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, butter.

Quiche Alsacienne

Crust: I use the one on the inside back cover of my red and white checked cookbook... you know the one! I used butter, and a bit more water (because I just don't want to deal with a dry, crumbly dough!)
Blind bake just a bit, hence the foil and beans... It helps keep the crust from becoming soggy.
Filling: brown onion (that makes it a "Alascienne"), added chopped (leftover) bacon, love Farmer's brand.
Place some diced or grated Swiss cheese (I diced some slided Swiss), in the bottom of the pie, some bacon/onion, more cheese, more bacon/onion.
Eggs: I used 4 eggs and some half-n-half, seasoned with pepper and a sprinkle of nutmeng. Pour over filling. Bake. I baked it at 400 because I had an apple pie in the oven, too.

Chili From Leftovers

To aforementioned spaghetti sauce, add smoked paprika, cumin, diced jalapeno pepper, cooked lentils, can of pinto beans (rinsed, drained), leftover corn, dried diced green chilies.
Serve with home fried corn tortilla chips, diced jalapeno, red onion, shredded cheddar.

Riced Potatoes

Yes, it really does make a difference...