Knowledge Nourishment

I love to cook. It's one of the only things in which I excel. I have decided to make a page where I will keep some recipes, some with pictures, some without. I will try to figure out a way to segregate by meal type, and or indgredient, if you are looking for something particular, try holding down the "control" key down while pressing the "f" key. You should get a drop down menu with a "find" blank, enter your ingredient or recipe and you should be able to navigate that way. Allegedly there is a way I can make a table of contents with direct links to each recipe. In time I will try this. This page will update as I post new recipes, so keep an eye on it regularly.




SOUPS:

Cabbage Leek Soup
(Serves 2, prep time 5 minutes, cook time 5 - 7 minutes, very little clean up)

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 lb shredded cabbage
• 3 - 1/4" slices medium sized leek (from stalk where white turns green) then chopped
• 1 green onion stalk, sliced into 1/4" pieces (discard 2 inches from each end)
• 1 tbspn minced garlic
• salt and pepper

In small pot bring broth, water, and garlic to a boil. Add Leeks and white pieces from green onion, let boil 2 minutes. Add cabbage and green onion greens, reduce heat to low, let simmer 3-5 minutes, or until cabbage is to prefference. Add salt and pepper to taste.



Spicy Sausage Soup
(Serves 8, prep time 2 minutes, cook time 12 - 20 minutes, (if using leftover rice) very little clean up)

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 lb shredded cabbage
• 1/2 lb spicy itallian sausage (turkey/pork/cicken)
• 1 1/2 cups prepared plain white rice, (I like to use left over rice from a previous meal, or instant rice can simply be added to the broth, but add another 1 cup of water)

1 teaspoon each of the following:

• salt
• pepper
• parsley
• oregeno
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• ground corriander

Start by browning the sausage in a skillet, (you can make tiny sausage meatballs if you want to get fancy, I just crumble it) while this is cooking, shred your cabbage, and prepare other items. In a large pot bring broth, water, and spices to a boil.  Add the sausage, including grease from pan, and the rice. Let boil 3-5 minutes. Add cabbage, and reduce heat to medium low, let cabbage "steep" for about 5 minutes, or until crisp, but tender. Enjoy!





APPETIZERS:

Toast
(Serves 1, prep time 10 seconds, cook time 10 seconds to 10 minutes, very little clean up)

• 2 slices of your favorite kind of bread

Either slice your bread, if you have the freash baguette or roll style bread, or pull two slices out of the baggie they wrap the loaf in. Go over to your toaster, put the bread in it. Check the darkness setting, make sure it is where you want your bread... I find that the number 3 represents charcoal, so I use a 1. Press down on the lever and keep a close eye on it. If the little filaments don't start glowing redish orange, check your power supply. If the machine starts to burn your toast, very carefully, so as not to get burned, manually force the lever up so that your toast comes up. DO NOT PUT TONGS IN THE TOASTER TO GET OUT YOUR BREAD!!! If this is all too complicated, dangerous, or time consuming for you, then skip these steps and get out a torch. Lightly torch your toast to the desired color. Apply, butter, jams, or jellies to your liking, and enjoy. Bon Appetite!

MAIN COURSES:

Beer Sauce Meatballs
(serves many, serve over rice or noodles, prep time 20 minutes, cook time 30 minutes, moderate clean up)

• 2 lbs Turkey Sausage
• 1 lb  Spicy Italian Sausage (most likely pork)
• 2 cans Campbell's (or other brand) Chedddar Cheese Soup
• 1/2 Yellow Onion cut into 1/2 squares
• 12 oz roughly chopped Mushrooms
• 1 bottle of beer, (I use MGD or Guiness)
• 1 tspn Crushed Red Pepper (more if you like spicy)
• 1 tspn Seasoned Salt
• 1 tbsp Parsley
• 1 tbspn Garlic Powder

In a large mixing bowl, mix Sausages, parsley, seasoned salt, crushed red pepper, and garlic powder. Roll into Meatballs, (the smaller the meat ball, the more servings you'll have). In a large saucepan, (I use a Wok) brown the meatballs until they are cooked about halfway through. transfer meatballs into a large pot with a lid, (if using a Wok, as long as you have a lid for it, you can keep in the Wok). Add Cheddar Cheese soup, mushrooms, onions, and beer. Cover and set heat to medium low. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes or until Soup and Beer have become a "sauce" and Onions are softened.

Perfect Scalloped Potatoes (Featured Recipe)
(Serves 8-ish, prep time 35 minutes, cook time 30-40 minutes, pretty messy to make, kind of a pain to clean up.)

• 2 lbs. Potatoes ( I prefer to use the all blue potatoes, they have a much better texture)
• 1 head of Broccoli (I shred mine starting at the florets, on the cheese grater)  
• 1 lb Sharp cheddar cheese
• 3 - 1/4" slices of your choice of Meat (I use the Sun Dried Tomato Turkey Breast from Raley's Deli.)
• 1 green onion stalk
• 1 -1/2 pint Heavy Cream 

First, Start a large pot on the stove with enough water to submerge your potatoes in, thinly slice all of your potatoes. I use a mandolin for mine to keep them all uniform. Drop them in the pot and let them steep in the hot water until you finish up shredding the broccoli. The potatoes shouldn't be in the water long enough to boil. Take the potatoes off the heat, Then rinse them really well in a collander under cold water. (Some of you may know this as "Blanching") let them set aside to drain while you dice your meat of choice into 1/4" cubes, and cut your green onion stalks into nice little 1/8" or 1/4" rounds. Preheat your oven to bake at 375. Get out a baking dish, and start assembling your Scalloped potatoes in it. I don't care what kind or size you use. The overall result is that you need to start making layers... do a single layer of potato slices, you do not want to see gaps. Then a fairly even layer of shredded broccoli, a layer of cheese, and a sprinkling of your cubed meat. Repeat this process until you fill your pan. I can usually get 3 layers. Between each layer I like to "press" the pan, this ensures that everything will be nice and tight, so that you get perfect "sticky" scalloped potatoes with each Spatula full. Once you've completed your last layer, top off with one more layer of cheese, do a final pressing, and add your green onion stalks. (remember those? I had you cut them up earlier... I know... it's been a while...) Make sure to clean up the edges of your pan, you don't want things spilling over the edge and becoming burnt krispies on the bottom of your oven. okay, now break out that little tiny thing of cream that I put in the list of ingredients, you're going to slowly pour, kind of more like, trickle, this over your entire pan. I use about 2/3 of the 1/2 pint... (what is that...  a third of a full pint then? whatever doensn't matter) If you use too much cream, you will end up with more soupy potatoes... too little, and it's gonna be really dried out. Place in the oven and check on them from time to time... they should cook for about 30 minutes.. sometimes it might take a little longer, especially if you have packed them really well, by pressing each layer nice and tight. Serve to everyone in your household, (who doesn't have any allergies to the ingredients) and enjoy the praise.





DESERTS:


Rocky Road Brownies
(serves many, or serves 1 if you have no impulse control, prep time 7 minutes, cook time 15-30 minutes depending on size of baking pan/dish, light clean up (and you can lick the utensils when you are done ;))



SPIRITS AND APPERTERIFFS:


Peachie-O

(To get the layered effect, start by putting the clear liquids first, then the blue caraco, and lastly the grenadine, drizzle each over the back of a spoon against the inside of the glass.)

• 1 box of your favorite kind of brownies (ones with chocolate and nuts mixed in is preffered)
• about 12-15 mini marshmellows, or about 4-5 regular marshmellows cut up into pieces
• 1/4 cup walnuts chopped (if your box does not already have) 
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (if your box does not have)
• 1 tspn of Rum, (or you can use Chocolate Liquer)

Follow the directions on the back of the box for making the brownies, with the exception of adding the marshmellows/chocolate/walnuts/rum... add these into the mixture before mixing. Prepare as directed. Enjoy.