Hearty Hamburger Stew

It's been chilly around here lately, and a few weeks ago I fixed up a batch of my grandmother's hearty hamburger stew. Only, we used turkey. But Hearty Turkey Stew doesn't sound nearly as good as Hearty Hamburger Stew. =)

In any case, fix up some of this and it will cure your cold weather blues. It's such a simple recipe that you can add or take away whatever you do or don't like to make it perfect for your family. Cook it in the Crockpot on low while you're at work, and come home to dinner ready to serve!

What we use:
1-1.5 lbs of meat. (We prefer turkey because it's lean and tastes just as good.)
1 white onion, 4-5 small carrots, 2-3 stalks of celery, 1 cup of frozen corn, 1 can of green beans, 3 roma tomatoes or 1 large can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of tomato sauce, 4-5 small potatoes, garlic, Kosher salt, beef stock or broth (2-3 cups), and your preferred seasonings (Lawry's, crushed black pepper, garlic powder and bay leaves).

Finely dice your onion and garlic, and sauté them in equal parts butter and oil. Let them go until the onions are translucent and the garlic is pungent.

Add in the turkey (or hamburger) and cook through. I prefer to season my meat as it cooks with Lawry's, crushed black pepper, kosher salt and garlic powder. Some people just add in the seasonings at the end with the soup, so cook it to your preference.

While the meat is browning, chop up the carrots, celery, potatoes and tomatoes. Go ahead and place these in your Crockpot along with 2-3 cups of beef stock, 1 cup of water and the corn and green beans.

Tip: I learned this from watching Rachael Ray, and I use it all the time.

Cover a deep bowl with a plastic bag and keep it on the counter for scraps. It doesn't seem like a big deal to walk over to the trashcan, but it simplifies things. You can just throw your scraps right into the bowl and tie up the sack when you're done cooking. It really helps!

When the turkey is cooked through, add it into the vegetables and stir to combine.

To deepen the flavor and color of your stew, add in a few splashes of this stuff. It's delicious. It gives your broth a deep, rich flavor. We love it.

Salt and pepper to taste. Add in 2-3 bay leaves and stir. Let cook for 6-7 hours on low or 3-4 hours on med/high.

Fix up some cornbread and enjoy! This is probably one of my favorite soups. It's soupy and hearty and meaty and vegetably. It's yummy!

I hope everyone stays warm (or cool) wherever you find yourselves this weekend. Happy Friday!

-Jenn (With 2 N's)

B is for Bruschetta

This....this is what life is all about. Juicy tomatoes, toasted garlic, basil, toasty french bread. Me - oh - My! As SOON as I saw this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog I just knew I had to make some of it.

I want you to have some of this in your life, so let's get started! I halved Pioneer Woman's recipe, because I wanted just enough to eat for lunch. For the larger recipe, check out her site.

Grab some red grape tomatoes and those lovely yellow grape tomatoes the next time you go to the grocery. These yellow beauties are absolutely my favorite. The first time I tried them was in a salad at our local tea room, and I've loved them fiercely ever since. Also grab some EVOO (I prefer the Extra Light), balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, kosher salt, black pepper and fresh garlic.

You'll also need some lovely French bread (baguette works too) and a few pats of butter.

Since I was halving the recipe, I used half the pint of reds and half the pint of yellows. For the whole recipe, you'll use both containers. But in any case, give these little guys a good rinse and chop them in half lengthwise. I chose to chop the larger ones into quarters, because that's how I roll. You may do as you please. This bruschetta business isn't a fine science!

Take a few cloves of garlic and give them a firm whack with a knife and the backside of your hand to release the skins. I really like doing this to garlic. There may or may not be something wrong with me.

Give them a good chop. If you have a handy chopper, fabulous. If you're like me, chop them by hand. Amen.

Heat some oil in a skillet, and dump the garlic in. You want to let them hang out for about 4-5 minutes, just enough to get a lovely toast to them. Stir them around a bit so they don't burn. Burnt garlic is no one's friend.

When they're lovely and toasted, pour them (oil and all) into a bowl to cool.

While the garlic is chillin', grab some basil and give them the ol' chiffonade. That's the fancy way of saying, chop it up and make it look purty.

 Stack about 7 leaves on top of each other

and roll them up from tip to tip. Then just cut the roll into stripes. Go here for a more detailed tutorial on the ol' chiffonade.

I prefer mine to be slightly smaller, so I just rough chopped them after I gave them the ol' chiffonade. I will now stop saying "the ol' chiffonade."

Dump your tomatoes into the bowl with the garlic and oil, and pour some balsamic right on top.

Add in the basil, a heaping pinch of Kosher salt, and a few grinds of black pepper, and give it a stir.

Add in more of whatever you want. Mine needed just a pinch more salt and a few more leaves of basil. I chose to make this the night before I wanted to eat it, so that it could get nice and chilled, and the flavors could all get nice and cozy together.

When you're ready to devour the delicious tomato concoction, heat up a few pats of butter in a skillet.

Toast up the bread until it looks absolutely divine. I have to work with a flat top stove, so the piece in the middle was perfect, while the pieces on the outer edges were only slightly toasted. It is the burden I have to bear.

Grab the tomatoes out of the fridge, give them stir, and pile them on top of the bread. Oh dear me.

You could cut the bread into smaller pieces or use crisply toasted baguettes for this, but I wanted to make it into a hearty lunch. So, serve it up with some sliced avocado (lime, salt and garlic please) and dig in! It is truly divine. One of the best things I've eaten.

The bits of toasted garlic and the basil go just perfectly with the balsamic and the toasty bread. Heaven on a plate right there.

This is SUCH a simple recipe, but it is just magnificent. It will definitely be put into my repertoire for parties. So, so easy.

Here's the handy printable so you, too, can have this in your life!  Go forth, eat bruschetta, and have garlic breath! :-P

-Jenn (With 2 N's)

Sweet Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts just kinda sound puny. They get a bad wrap as a gross vegetable that kids are forced to eat by their parents. My parents never bought them, and I'd never tried them until last night.

Give them a try. They're naturally sweet, so when you roast the fire out of them, the sweetness comes out. Pair it with some crisp bacon and a touch of syrup and they're delicious!

I've been trying to use fresh produce as much as I can lately, so grab a package of fresh sprouts from the produce section. Give them a good rinse, and let dry for a bit while preparing your bacon.

Cook up 4 slices of your favorite bacon.  I cooked mine until it was almost done, because it will cook a bit more in the oven with the sprouts. Reserve about 2 tablespoons of the grease.

Chop the pieces up until they look good. This is not a fine science, trust me.

Lop off the ends of the sprouts and cut them down the middle. The baby ones can stay whole, but most of them need to be split. It helps with the browning and releasing of their natural sweetness.

In a bowl or measuring cup, mix together extra virgin olive oil, maple syrup and the reserved bacon grease. This is what dreams are made of.

Mix the sprouts and bacon together, and pour the oil mixture on top. Stir together well and season liberally with kosher salt and pepper. Use a pinch more salt than you think you need.

Roast the fire out of these puppies in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes, turning them once halfway through. The recipe I adapted these from only called for them to be cooked 15 minutes, and while getting dinner ready I left them in for about 20. They really need to be nice and brown, so I would suggest keeping them in a bit longer. You want them fork tender and really looking nice and lovely. Be sure to turn them halfway, as this will help with the roasting process.

Serve these up with a juicy steak and baked potato for a yummy dinner. (Thanks to Dad for grilling the lovely steaks in the dark!)

If you're like my mother, you'll spoon a few sprouts onto your plate because you are skeptical and don't think they will taste very good. Then you'll sheepishly ask for the bowl back to get a bigger helping.


I was pretty skeptical about these guys, but they really did turn out lovely. I would've preferred them cooked a touch longer, but they really released a lot of natural sweetness. I was impressed!

And now for a new feature I'm starting: ready to print recipe cards! Just click on these, save them to your computer and you can print them out for easy access. I hope you like them as much as I do!

Go forth and enjoy your brussels sprouts cuz they're good for you! Well, minus the syrup and bacon grease. :)

-Jenn (With 2 N's)

Italian Nachos a'la Johnny Carino's

From my mother's side of the family I get my American Indian roots. From my father's side, we're really not sure what roots spring up there. ;) But I can't figure out where my Italian roots come from. I'm sure I have them. I can eat pasta with the best of them, and I like saying words like focaccia, penne, tortellini, linguini, Alfredo and ala panna.

I've got to research my bloodline. It's got to be there somewhere.

In any case, I decided to tackle one of my family's favorite dishes when we go out for Italian. Johnny Carino's Italian Nachos. They're amazing. The chips are light, airy and crispy, and I've never figured out how they make them so delicious. Then I found the head chef's blog, and was shocked to find the actual recipe for the nachos!

You'll never guess what the chips are made of.

First, let's get our ingredients together. For the chips you need...ready for this?...a package of wonton wrappers. Yeah. That's it. I mean, I knew you could fry wontons, but I never in a million years thought of making chips out of them! I picked up a package of 60, and only used half of the package to feed 4 people.

For the sauce, you'll need half and half (or heavy cream), butter (the real stuff man!), 2 small cloves of garlic, flour, and 2 1/2 cups of grated italian cheese. You can use the good stuff, like parmigiano-reggiano, or if you're like me, and your little grocery store doesn't carry the good stuff, pick up the next best thing. I used Kraft Italian Blend, and it turned out just fabulous.

Traditionally, these nachos are served with chicken, ground Italian sausage, tomatoes, olives, pepperoncinis and jalapeños. I modified the recipe for my family, and you can easily do the same. We only used chicken, and eliminated the pepperoncinis and japs. However, they are delicious with the mixture of meats, we just had chicken on hand so it's what we used.

We love the simplicity of Schwan's fajita chicken, and found it worked perfectly in this dish. If you have a Schwan's man, order a bag of it from him! If you don't, you should definitely look into getting it delivered to your home. It's pre-cooked, pre-seasoned, frozen chicken pieces. All you do is heat some oil in a skillet, stir the babies around for 10 minutes, and you have delicious chicken ready to eat! Or you can pick up some pre-seasoned italian chicken in the deli section of your grocery store. Or cook up your own! The options are endless.

Now, let's get this show on the road!

First, take a stack of the wontons, and cut them in half on a diagonal, to form triangles. These will become your chips. And the angels will rejoice at the awesomeness of the chips you made.

Heat enough oil in a skillet for frying (about 1.5 - 2 cups). An easy trick to see if it's hot enough: slightly moisten your finger with water and flick it into the oil. If it sizzles, the oil is hot enough.

Peel apart the wontons and drop them into the hot oil. Be sure to get them all separated, and keep them from piling on top of each other in the skillet.

Let them cook about 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side. If your oil is scorching hot, it will take much less than that. You really just want to use your judgement here and not let them get too dark. (Like that chip on top.) I love dark, crispy chips, but in this recipe you want the middles to still be slightly white. Just make sure you get them crispy enough that they aren't chewy in the middle.

Next: let's make the sauce!

Slowly melt the butter in a saucepan. And please, do it slowly. It allows the butter to get kind of browned and makes the sauce out of this WORLD. It helps to talk like Paula Deen while you're doing this.

After the butter has melted, and you've fully embraced your inner Paula, mix in the flour and minced garlic. This folks, is the beginning of a beautiful sauce. It will make you slap your momma. So make sure she's in the other room.

Let this mixture cook for about 4 minutes, until it's thick. Be sure to stir it almost constantly. You don't want the little garlic pieces burning. Burnt garlic is no fun my friends.

Turn up the heat to medium/high and slowly stir in the half and half. Cook until the cream thickens up, about another 5 minutes or so.

Once the cream has thickened, remove the sauce from the heat and stir in your cheese. Try your hardest not to bury your face in the pan. A. It's just not couth. B. You'll burn your face and won't be able to enjoy the nachos.

A little tip: If you have someone who can help (a.k.a. Mom) have one person making the chips while the other is making the sauce. The nachos are best when the chips are fresh and hot, and the sauce is right off the stove. If you let the sauce sit, it will get globby, and you'll have to mix in some extra cream or milk to get it creamy again.

Now all that's left is assembly!

Pile some chips on a plate, and cover them with chicken. Spoon the homemade alfredo sauce over the top, and sprinkle tomatoes and olives on it. (You can add the japs and peppers here if you're into that sort of thing.)

Or if you're like me, skip the olives and add extra tomatoes. Olives are weird. Sprinkle some grated cheese over the top (that you reserved) and chow down.

These nachos will rock your world. I promise. I died a couple times from the sheer awesomeness of the sauce, and the crispiness of the chips.

And the leftover sauce I have...that's going on some penne, or maybe on some linguini. I might even slap it on some focaccia and make an italian grilled cheese! The possibilities are endless.

So see, I really gave you two recipes. Nachos, and homemade Alfredo sauce.

You're welcome. It's the least I can do.

-Jenn (With 2 N's)