Xavier Soup

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup butter

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

A grating of fresh nutmeg

2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

10 cups chicken stock (I did 8 cups)

Additional chopped parsley for garnishing

Directions:

1. Line a large baking sheet with well-buttered parchment paper. Fit a sturdy piping bag with a large round tip.
2. In a medium saucepan, over low heat, work the flour, cream, butter, and cheese into a soft dough.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, eggs, yolks, and tablespoon of chopped parsley.
4. Spoon the dough into the piping bag and squeeze out 1-inch lengths onto the prepared pan. Use a butter knife to separate the dough from the tip once you’ve piped out shapes of the proper length.
5. Let stand for 30 minutes.
6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In another, smaller saucepan, warm up the chicken stock.
7. Drop one third of the dumplings into the boiling water, and boil until they are tender and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the heated chicken stock.
8. Repeat process with the remaining dumplings.
9. Once all the dumpling are cooked and in the chicken stock, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with additional chopped parsley. Serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings

Notes: A few thoughts here. First, I only made this recipe because I wanted to make a recipe that started with the letter X, and this one seemed relatively easy. Second, it admittedly doesn't look all that appetizing. Aesthetically this soup is bland. Third: My oldest struggled with the texture of the dumplings. Fourth: I discovered (midway through cooking the dumplings) that after the dough sat for 30 minutes, it had set enough that it could be shaped by hand. Fifth: I loved this soup. The buttery, cheesy dumplings were delicious! This soup exceeded my expectations and after having it this first time it is right up there as one of my favorites.

Source: The Lass in the Apron

Mujadara

Ingredients

4 Tbsps olive oil

2 large onions, thinly sliced

Salt, to taste

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground allspice

Pinch ground cayenne pepper

Large pinch dried thyme, oregano, and/or rosemary

5 cups vegetable broth

1 cup green, brown, or red lentils

3/4 cup rice

1-2 Tbsp lemon juice

Pepper, to taste

Pinch red pepper flakes, for garnish

Chopped fresh herbs, for garnish

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat, then add onions. Add a pinch of salt and sauté until the onions turn golden brown, 15-45 minutes, stirring often so they don't burn. Transfer half of the onions to a plate, leaving remaining half in the skillet.
2. Add garlic to skillet and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute, then add cumin, allspice, and cayenne and sauté a few seconds to toast the spices. Stir in herbs and broth, bring to a simmer, and add salt to taste.
3. Add in lentils, cover and simmer with lid cracked until lentils are almost done (25-30 minutes for green and brown lentils, 15-20 minutes for red). Stir rice into the pot and continue to cook until everything is tender, 15-20 minutes. Close lid completely if it looks too thick while cooking.
4. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Top with reserved onions and garnishes.

Notes: I've been interested in finding some good lentils recipes to add to the rotation, and this one was a keeper. My kids even liked it (except for the 6-year-old).

Source: clipped from Texas Co-op Power Magazine, January 2021 issue

Breakfast Burrito Fried Rice

Ingredients

8 oz. ground chorizo

2 eggs, beaten

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp. cumin

1 cup frozen corn kernels

3 cups cooked rice

1 cup salsa

Salt

Grated cheddar cheese

Shredded lettuce

Directions

1. Brown chorizo in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon. Drain all but 1 tablespoon grease.
2. Add eggs to hot grease in skillet and push around with wooden spoon until barely set. Remove from pan; set aside.
3. Return chorizo to skillet. Add onion and bell pepper; cook until onion is translucent, 5 minutes. Add cumin and corn; cook 1 minute. Add rice and salsa; cook, stirring constantly, until rice breaks up and is heated through, and chorizo reaches a safe internal temperature of 160°F. Stir in reserved scrambled eggs. Season to taste with salt. Top with cheese and lettuce. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Notes: I knew I would enjoy this recipe based on the ingredients. It was also a hit with the rest of the family. We will be having this one again.

Source: clipped from a Kroger magazine we received in the mail. 

Irish Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, diced
2 pounds lean ground lamb (we used ground beef)
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon paprika
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ketchup
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 ½ cups water, or as needed
1 (12 ounce) package frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and halved
1 tablespoon butter
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper
¼ cup cream cheese
¼ pound Irish cheese (such as Dubliner), shredded
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place olive oil and butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in onion and ground lamb; brown the meat, breaking it up into small crumbles as it cooks, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in flour until incorporated, then mix in salt, black pepper, rosemary, paprika, cinnamon, ketchup, and garlic; cook and stir until garlic is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Stir in water and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring mixture to a simmer; cook and stir until thick, about 5-6 minutes.
5. Remove lamb mixture from heat and stir in peas and carrots until combined.
6. Spread lamb mixture into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
7. Place potatoes into a large pan of salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain well and return potatoes to pan.
8. Mash butter, cayenne pepper, cream cheese, and Irish cheese into the potatoes. Mash until combined and potatoes are smooth. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
9. Whisk together egg yolk and milk in a small bowl; stir into the mashed potato mixture.
10. Top the lamb mixture in the baking dish with the mashed potatoes and spread evenly to cover.
11. Bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown and sauce is bubbling up around the edges, 25 to 30 minutes.

Notes: Ground lamb is a bit fancy for us so we went with ground beef. Apparently that makes this recipe a Cottage Pie rather than a Shepherd's Pie. But I am posting the recipe as I found it. Maybe some day we'll be willing to pay the extra $ to see if ground lamb is worth it. We also couldn't find a frozen peas and carrots mix, so we used the mixed veggies we had that also included corn and beans. This was a tasty meal (my son loved it) but I didn't put in enough salt in step 3 so it smelled better than it tasted. A little bit of added salt helped but first impression was that it was lacking.

Source: allrecipes

Leche Asada (Baked Milk Custard)

Ingredients
6 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk
Garnish with ground cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Crack 6 eggs into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add sugar and milk and whisk to combine.
4. Pour through strainer (to remove larger egg residues) into individual ramekins or one 1 1/2 quart ramekin. 
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes in the small ramekins or for 1 hour in the large. (Setting them in a water bath will make them creamier).
6. Chill for about an hour.
7. Sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon (if desired) and serve.

Notes: This is a simple but tasty dessert. Brittany has done water baths for custards before but I had never actually made a custard before, so I learned something new making this. (This is how I did it: set ramekin into larger baking dish. Bring some water to a boil and pour into larger baking dish until it is approximately level with the custard in the ramekin.)

Source: Global Table Adventure

Sopa de Mani (Bolivian Peanut Soup)

Ingredients

Sopa de Mani:

olive oil (or peanut oil)
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 lb beef, cubed
1 quart beef stock 
4 medium potatoes (cut as big or as small as you like)
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts (slightly ground up or as small as you like - smaller will result in more peanut flavor)
1/4 cup white rice
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup milk
parsley, to taste
salt
pepper

Llajua (Bolivian Hot Sauce):

3 ripe tomatoes 
1 red locotos chili pepper (we used a jalapeño)
2 garlic cloves
3 basil leaves
2 Tsp cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Sopa de Mani:

1. Add oil to a large pot and heat over medium. Cook onion and garlic with oregano and cumin.
2. When onions are softened, add beef, stock, potato, and peanuts. Simmer gently until potatoes are just tender. I cooked this soup on super low for about 1 1/2 hours.
3. Add rice, milk and peas and serve after about 20 minutes.
4. Serve with Llajua.

Llajua:

1. Quarter the Chili pepper & the garlic.
2. Take out the seeds and stuff from the tomato. Tomato guts are too wet and acidic for this recipe. Remove seeds from chili pepper if you want to make it more mild.
3. Grab some cilantro and basil.
4. Put everything in a blender along with the olive oil and salt.
5. Puree and pour into little serving dishes.

Notes: I was too lazy to try to capture good photos of this recipe, and didn't get any of it after I added the hot sauce. I cubed my potatoes. I think if I make this again I either quarter the potatoes as the source did or I don't cook them quite as long. I enjoyed the tenderness of the beef but I think the potatoes were overdone. Also, my hot sauce didn't have much kick to it so next time I would go for a hotter pepper or leave the seeds in. Still, I like this better than the Argentine beef stew I tried from the Global Table Adventure blog. We've made several recipes from this blog, but this was the first time we also tried the recommended dessert: Leche Asada (Baked Milk Custard). 

Source: 

Sopa de Mani: Global Table Adventure

Llajua: Global Table Adventure

Tater Tot Taco Casserole

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (1 ounce) packet taco seasoning mix
1 (16 ounce) bag frozen Mexican-style corn
1 (12 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (12 ounce) bag shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 (16 ounce) package frozen tater tots
1 (12 fluid ounce) can enchilada sauce

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 375°F (190°C). Prepare a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until completely browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, taco seasoning mix, frozen Mexican-style corn, and black beans to the ground beef; cook and stir another 10 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Combine the ground beef mixture in a large bowl with about 3/4 of the Mexican cheese blend and the tater tots; stir to combine.
4. Pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the tater tot mixture to the baking dish; lightly pat the mixture down into a solid, even layer. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tater tot layer.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining Mexican cheese over the casserole and return to oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes more.

Notes: I really enjoyed this casserole and ate up nearly all the leftovers by myself over the next few days without complaint. A definite upgrade over our regular Tater Tot Casserole recipe in my opinion - though my kids probably like that one more. We couldn't find Mexican-style corn so just used plain frozen corn.

Source: allrecipes

Raspberry Swirl Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients
Raspberry Sauce:
1 to 1 1/2 cups of raspberries
1/2 to 3/4 sugar

Buttermilk Pancakes:
1 cup flour 
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp melted butter

Instructions

1. Combine the berries and the sugar in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, stirring often and simmer until thick (about 5 minutes).
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients. In another bowl whisk together the milk, egg, vanilla, and butter. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients. Lightly whisk until everything just combines (it will be a bit lumpy).
3. If needed lightly oil/butter your griddle. Heat to 350°F. 
4. Put the raspberry sauce into a pastry bag with a tip (or use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off).
5. Spoon batter onto the heated griddle. Pipe a swirl of raspberry into the middle of each pancake.
6. When the edges begin to cook and the top is bubbled flip and cook the other side until golden brown.
7. Serve with extra sauce, powdered sugar, or maple syrup.

Notes: The buttermilk pancake recipe we typically follow is found here. This is a fun variation, though really it tasted like a regular buttermilk pancake with raspberry sauce on top. The swirls are for presentation and variety I suppose.

Source: Well Floured