December 2006 – Page 2 – Feed Your Kids

Creamy Wild Rice Soup

A friend from Minnesota gave me this recipe about 15 years ago. It’s one of our favorites when soup (cold) weather arrives. We’re still waiting (sigh) for soup weather in Texas this year, but we’re enjoying our soup, anyway, even if we’re wearing shorts while we eat it! Boy especially likes this soup. It is a great first course, if served in very small cups, or add a salad and some bread and make a meal of it! The salad pictured above was an odd mixture of romaine hearts, black beans, purple onion, chopped tomato and chopped, toasted pecans with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. I have a tendency to throw whatever I have in the fridge on top of a salad. Sometimes they turn out great (like this one), but sometimes they’re just weird. If I had it to do again, I would have left either the pecans or the beans out – they weren’t a good combination, but not awful….

Wild Rice Soup

1/4 cup minced onion
4 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen green peas or grated fresh carrot
(I usually use carrots, but didn’t have any today, so I used peas)
1/2 cup cubed ham
2 1/2 cups cooked wild rice (I cook it with chicken broth, for extra flavor)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Turn heat off and whisk in the flour until well blended. Gradually pour in the chicken stock, whisking to incorporate. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until very slightly thickened (5 – 10 minutes?). Add peas or carrots, ham, rice and parsley. Stir to combine and cook over low heat for 5 more minutes or so. Gradually pour in as much milk as necessary to reach the proper soup consistency (you may need slightly more or less than 2 cups). Simmer 2 or 3 more minutes to allow the soup to warm through. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you’re feeling like REALLY rich soup you can substitute half-and-half for some (or even all) of the milk, but we like a slightly lighter flavor so that we can make a meal of this. I would only make it with all cream if you are planning to serve VERY small portions.

Other possible variations:

Add a little finely diced celery (about 1/4 cup?) to the onion. Saute the celery with the onion and proceed with the recipe as usual.

Add some sliced or chopped, sauteed mushrooms (about 1 cup?) to the soup when you add the rice and ham.

Substitute chopped, cooked chicken for the ham.

Basic Buttercream Icing

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This icing can be adapted to be used for almost anything. It’s great for cakes, cupcakes and even cookies, if they don’t need to be stacked or wrapped (this icing really won’t “harden” enough for that). I made this batch of icing to go with the cookies for Girl’s school Christmas party tomorrow (see previous post – I made the cookies a few days ago and froze them). I thought that it would be easier for the kids to grab icing and decorate their own cookies if the icing was already portioned out, so I used these handy plastic portion cups. Even though they are not as environmentally friendly as I would like, I know that it will make it much easier at the party (and more hygienic), instead of having to scoop out enough icing for each kid and hoping that there will be enough left for the last kid.

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Basic Buttercream Icing

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cut into chunky cubes
1 pound (1 box) powdered sugar (sifted, if there are any visible lumps)
1 tsp. extract of your choice
about 1/4 cup liquid of your choice
(more about extract and liquid choices later)
pinch of salt, optional
1 Tbsp. Meringue powder (I like Wilton brand, but any powdered egg whites will do. This is also optional, but does help the icing maintain it’s consistency.)

Cream butter lightly in a stand mixer until it is slightly softened and not lumpy. Add extract, meringue powder and salt, if desired. With mixer on low, pour powdered sugar in slowly until blended (mixture will be sort of coarse and crumbly). Add liquid gradually (1 Tbsp. at a time), until icing reaches the consistency that you want.

One batch makes a little more than 2 cups. You probably need a double batch of icing to frost one round two-layer cake or one batch of cookies. For a batch (24) of cupcakes, you could maybe get by with a single batch if you frost them lightly (my preference, anyway). If you are using this to frost cookies, keep in mind that the icing will stay soft, so the cookies cannot be stacked or easily stored, but it’s great for parties where the cookies will be eaten as soon as they are frosted and it’s much tastier than most typical cookie frosting.

A note on flavoring (extracts and liquids) choices:
I usually start with 1 tsp. vanilla extract and add just a touch (1/4 tsp.) of almond extract, too, but you can use any extract that you like (peppermint, lemon, etc.). For the holidays, mixing vanilla and peppermint extracts together is a festive flavor. If you want your icing to stay super WHITE, you can buy special clear extracts at a cake store or craft store. REAL vanilla extract tastes MUCH better, though, and I don’t think that having your icing stay WHITE WHITE matters, unless you’re making a wedding cake! If you really want WHITE icing, you have to use shortening, anyway, instead of the butter (ICK!). As far as liquid goes, I usually use milk, but if you want a really rich icing, you can use half-and-half or even whipping cream. If using cream, the icing will need to be refrigerated afterwards; if you use milk, the frosted cake/cupcakes can sit out for a day or two (covered) without you having to worry. If it will not be consumed before then, I would refrigerate it, just to be safe. This icing can also be easily adapted to make chocolate frosting – just add about 1/4 cup melted chocolate before adding the liquid. I usually use chocolate chips just to make it easy. To make a nice “grown-up” mocha-flavored icing, you can make chocolate icing, using strongly brewed, black coffee as your liquid in the icing, instead of milk.

Just in case any of you are wondering what I did to help with Boy’s Christmas party, it was yesterday and I was there, helping make pancakes on an electric skillet and serving them to the kids. They have been studying Jamestown and had a Colonial-themed party. They dressed in pseudo-Colonial garb (this was much more exciting to the girls than the boys), made clove-studded orange pomanders, practiced calligraphy, made yarn dolls and played Colonial games. We called the pancakes “johnny cakes”. It was very festive and fun.

What’s really funny is that Boy is now fascinated with making more yarn dolls. He put together a couple more after school today. When Girl was in 3rd grade (and they did this same EXACT party), she made lots more yarn dolls, too. She made little beds for them and experimented with creating different ways to make their hair. Boy, on the other hand, is creating elaborate yarn trapezes in his room for them to swing from to catch their little yarn adversaries. Amazing how different the genders can be, even with the same toy. When Boy was very small, I didn’t believe in these gender stereotypes and bought both of the kids little doll strollers. It seems pretty silly now, but I was convinced that he should be allowed to play with dolls, too, if he wanted to. I needn’t have bothered – he was absolutely NOT interested. Girl used her doll stroller to push her baby dolls around, lovingly covering them with teeny little blankets. Boy used his stroller, too – to make it easier to cart his toy cars around from to room.

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Some of Boy’s friends, eating pancakes

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Boy (in the green sweater vest) playing “Colonial games”

All-Purpose Sugar Cookies

Girl’s class at school is having a Christmas party this week and they requested some cookies for the kids to decorate with frosting and sprinkles during the event. This recipe is JUST the thing. All-Purpose Sugar Cookies 2 cups (4 sticks) butter 3 cups sugar 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. vanilla extract 3 beaten … Continue reading “All-Purpose Sugar Cookies”

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Girl’s class at school is having a Christmas party this week and they requested some cookies for the kids to decorate with frosting and sprinkles during the event. This recipe is JUST the thing.

All-Purpose Sugar Cookies

2 cups (4 sticks) butter
3 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 beaten eggs
6 cups flour
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. McCormick’s Vanilla Butter & Nut extract (if you can find it), optional
tiny pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut sticks of butter into chunky cubes. Cream together butter and sugar in large bowl of a stand mixer. Add eggs, soda, and extracts. Mix until just barely blended. Blend in half of flour until just barely mixed. Repeat with remaining flour. Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes.

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Decorate, if desired, with M & Ms, Red Hots, raisins, etc. If you are planning to serve them as “plain” sugar cookies, you may sprinkle them with a bit of coarse sugar (raw sugar or sanding sugar – you could even use plain white sugar if you don’t have either of these on hand) at this point. Bake about 10 minutes, depending upon size of cut-outs.

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Watch carefully, because these will become overdone very quickly. Makes about 5 dozen cookies that are about 3 and 1/2 inches across (plus one small little ball of dough to make one special mini-cookie for Boy).

Other ideas to use dough:

Chocolate Chip cookies:
Mix chocolate chips into dough before baking for a lighter cookie (no brown sugar).

Snickerdoodles:
Form dough into small balls and roll in cinnamon-sugar before baking.

Decorative Edge cookies:
Roll dough into a log about 2 inches across. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until firm. Cut log into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Roll edge of slices in decorative sprinkles (jimmies, colored sugar, etc.) and bake as usual.

Kiss cookies:
Roll dough into small balls and then press an unwrapped Hershey Kiss candy into each ball before baking.

Iced, decorated cookies:
Decorate with your favorite icing and/or sprinkles after baking. I will post spreadable icing and poured fondant icing recipes soon. I am planning to make another batch of these soon, for the Christmas holidays and will likely pipe designs in multiple colors on them. Look for another entry soon. Here is a photo of some angel cookies that I made like this last year:

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

This is a great, old-fashioned, back-of-the-box kind of recipe, but it’s actually quite yummy and is great for cold mornings when you want a hearty breakfast. It’s a super recipe for when you have company staying with you and you need to make an easy breakfast for a crowd. Add a fruit salad, some OJ, … Continue reading “Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole”

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This is a great, old-fashioned, back-of-the-box kind of recipe, but it’s actually quite yummy and is great for cold mornings when you want a hearty breakfast. It’s a super recipe for when you have company staying with you and you need to make an easy breakfast for a crowd. Add a fruit salad, some OJ, (maybe some muffins or bagels, if your crowd isn’t too carb-conscious) and you’re all set!

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Girl and her cousin enjoying some casserole

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

3 cups water
2 packages boxed, dried hash brown potatoes (see note below)
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (mild or sharp, your choice)
2 cups milk
10 beaten eggs
2 cups chopped, smoked ham (see note below)
1 cup thinly sliced green onion (see note below)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into an ungreased 13 X 9 inch pan. Spread to make sure that potatoes, ham and cheese are evenly distributed in liquid.

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Casserole, ready to go in the oven

(At this point, casserole can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight, if desired. Pull out of the refrigerator and bake as usual the next morning. This is what we always do on Christmas morning – the casserole cooks as the kids empty their stockings.)

Bake, uncovered, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (about 60 minutes or maybe a TAD more) and the top is lightly browned. Let stand for about 2 minutes before cutting into serving pieces. This recipe can easily be halved (bake in a small square dish – 8 X 8 or so).

Note on hash browns:
I use B*tty Cr*cker brand – they’re a little hard to find, but I think Safeway/Randall’s/Von’s carries them pretty regularly. They will be next to the boxed, scalloped potatoes mix (ick!). Try Giant, if you’re on the East coast.

Note on ham:
When you buy the ham from your store’s deli, have them cut it REALLY thick, tell them “for cubing” or “chef salad style”. Bring it home and cut the dark “rind” off of it, then cut the ham into 1/2 inch strips, then cut the other direction, into 1/2 inch dice. Feed the rind to your dog, if you have one. He will LOVE you for it. I like nitrite-free Black Forest ham. It’s expensive, but if you watch for it to go on sale, you can cut it up and freeze it. 3/4 lb. will yield about 2 cups chopped, with a little bit left over after you remove the rind. Save any that you have left over to toss into a Denver omelet later (or a frittata, of course!). Watch for more great recipes soon that also use this thick-cut chopped ham: Baked Homemade Mac and Cheese with Ham and Peas and Wild Rice Soup with Ham.

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Chopping ham, removing rind

Note on green onions:
I wasn’t able to find any green onions yesterday that looked decent. They all looked old and slimy, so I’m leaving them out this morning. It’s really better with the green onions in it, but I’ve left them out before (if the kids have a buddy to sleep over and I’m not sure if the buddy likes them) and it’s OK. Of course, when I heard the news of the great “Green Onion E-coli Panic of Ought-6”, I was glad that I hadn’t purchased any.

More Butternut Ravioli

I made some more of these today, to put in the freezer. They will likely get served at a meal over the holidays. I decided to “spruce” them up a little and added a bit more chopped sage, cheese and some finely chopped pecans to the filling. I used a fancier, fluted cutter, too, to … Continue reading “More Butternut Ravioli”

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Next blog entry will be Christmas Sugar Cookies!

Herbed Chicken, Spinach and Roasted New Potato Frittata

I am the Goddess of Leftovers! For instructions on how to make a fritatta, see this entry here: http://www.feedyourkids.com/2006/10/fritatta_with_roasted_white_as_1.html Since the leftover potatoes were already cooked in today’s version, I could skip the step of sauteing them. You can put ANYTHING in these – they are a GREAT way to use up whatever leftovers you … Continue reading “Herbed Chicken, Spinach and Roasted New Potato Frittata”

I am the Goddess of Leftovers!

For instructions on how to make a fritatta, see this entry here:
http://www.feedyourkids.com/2006/10/fritatta_with_roasted_white_as_1.html

Since the leftover potatoes were already cooked in today’s version, I could skip the step of sauteing them. You can put ANYTHING in these – they are a GREAT way to use up whatever leftovers you might have. Sometimes I’ll even throw a little baggie of leftover meat or cooked veggie into the freezer, if I don’t have time to use it right away, then I can pull it out to toss into a frittata later. You can use any cheese you like, or none at all.

Yummy Butternut Squash Ravioli

OK, so I gave Hubby the choice between the butternut risotto and the butternut ravioli for tonight. I am SO glad that he chose this. This was SO delicious. I was worried that it would be too similar to the gnocchi that we love (with the orange veggie and brown butter sauce), that we wouldn’t … Continue reading “Yummy Butternut Squash Ravioli”

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Here is the original Epicurious recipe, but I ended up changing it around enough that it will be simpler for me just to write my version here for you, rather than list all of the modifications that I made, so here is my version:

Butternut Squash Ravioli

filling ingredients:
2 cups roasted, mashed, cooled butternut squash
(get it that way yourself – a one pound squash will yield about 2 cups)
1/2 medium-sized onion, chopped (about 2/3 cup)
2 tsp. chopped fresh sage
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
1/3 cup grated hard goat cheese (I used Parrano)

1 stick unsalted butter
1 package won ton wrappers (there were 52 in my pack)
1/3 cup good quality fresh pecans, cut into large pieces (each pecan cut into about 6 pieces)

In a large bowl, mix together the squash and cheese. Saute onion, garlic and sage in 1 Tbsp. of the butter until onions are softened. Add to squash and stir well to combine. Put a large pot of water on to boil (I usually add a little salt and olive oil).

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Working quickly so that won ton wrappers don’t dry out, put 1 wrapper on a clean work surface and place one level Tbsp. of squash filling in the center.

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Brush the wrapper (around the filling) with water and a pastry brush (or a clean finger). Put a second wrapper over the top, push down around the filling to push out any air bubbles and seal the edges well around the filling.

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Trim around the filling with a small round cookie cutter (the one that I used was a little less than 3 inches across).

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When you cut, don’t twist the cookie cutter, but cut straight down, so that sealed pasta edges will not become loosened. As ravioli are completed, place them gently on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Repeat until all filling is used up.

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Sit ravioli aside as you prepare the butter sauce. Place the remainder (7 Tbsp.) of the stick of butter in a skillet with the pecans. Cook over medium heat until the pecans are toasted and the milk solids have just started to turn brown. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set sauce aside and keep warm.

Cook ravioli, in 2 separate batches, in the boiling water for 1 or 2 minutes, until they start to float and are tender. Turn the heat down, if necessary, to keep the water from boiling too rapidly, which can make the ravioli come apart. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon or spider strainer. Set aside, slightly separated, on waxed paper or a lightly greased platter, so that they don’t stick together, until the second batch is cooked and you are ready to serve them. Pour brown butter sauce over them carefully, trying to get some sauce on each one, to keep them from sticking to each other.

Makes about 24 ravioli.

Other possible modifications:
More sage in the filling would be good. Some finely chopped toasted pecans in the filling would be nice, too. You probably don’t HAVE to have the goat cheese in the filling – parmesan would be fine, if that’s what you happen to have on hand. Hubby said these are so good they really don’t even need the sauce, but I’m not too sure about that. I REALLY like browned butter.

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I served these with some herb-rubbed grilled chicken and some broccolini cooked with garlic and chicken broth. I accidentally overcooked the broccolini a little, but everything else was really good.

We didn’t get time to do the gingerbread house decorating tonight, but we have all of the “stuff” (candy canes, green gummy Life Savers to make a wreath on the front door, etc.) and will try to do them and post photos very soon.

BOOT CAMP!

I have started a new “boot camp” like exercise program and have been EXHAUSTED for the past couple of days and not cooking. I have to put “boot camp” in quotes, because Hubby is a former Marine and says that this couldn’t POSSIBLY be anything like REAL boot camp. Maybe not, but it’s plenty hard-core … Continue reading “BOOT CAMP!”

We don’t have much in the way of after-school activities today, though, so I’m planning on cooking something blogworthy. Haven’t decided what yet. It will either be Butternut Squash, Sage and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce or Butternut Squash, Rosemary and Blue Cheese Risotto. I have some roasted, mashed butternut squash that I prepared a while back and froze and I want to use it up. I made even do a simple Butternut Squash soup with some ginger.

I bought some plain (undecorated) gingerbread houses yesterday, too, and there may be enough time this evening for the kids to decorate them. I’ll post photos of them when they’re done, too. Will depend upon how much homework they have tonight.

Stay tuned!

Portugese Soup from The Inn at Brushy Creek

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We are having a BIG cold snap here today, so it’s perfect weather for soup. I made this for dinner tonight. This recipe is from a now-closed restaurant called the Inn at Brushy Creek that used to be in Round Rock, just north of where I live. This soup was always the first course, served in small bowls. It’s so hearty, though, that we just serve it in big bowls and make a meal out of it. It is SO easy to make, your house smells terrific while it’s cooking and it’s VERY kid-friendly (it’s got ketchup in it!). I’m going to go here and pick up a nice loaf of something yummy to go with it. Their Spinach Feta bread is delicious, but it does have high fructose corn syrup it it (their Honey Whole Wheat does not).

Portugese Soup from the Inn at Brushy Creek

2 white onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
6 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pound garlic-flavored, smoked pork sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
(Elgin sausage is great, if you happen to live nearby and can get it, or Linguica)
10 cups beef stock
2 cans kidney beans, with liquid
1 head green cabbage, cored and chopped into medium pieces
12 small new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1/4 to 1/2 cup vinegar (less to taste)
1 16-ounce bottle ketchup (more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and garlic in oil.
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When they are just transparent, add sausage slices and brown lightly.
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Add beef stock and all other ingredients.
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Bring to a boil, stirring often to keep the bottom of the pan from burning. Reduce heat, simmer 35 – 45 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally. Correct seasonings to taste. Yields about 1 gallon. Share this with your neighbors – because of the potatoes, this soup will NOT freeze well, but it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.