Tag: recipes

Pea soup with bacon

I’ve attempted a green pea soup once before. It was decent, but was missing something. Yesterday I tried out the pea soup recipe in Greg Atkinson’s West Coast Cooking.

As always, what I did is somewhat adapted from the cookbook. If you want the official recipe, buy the book.

  • ½ stick unsalted butter
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 head iceberg lettuce
  • 2+ cups chicken broth
  • 1½ pounds frozen green peas
  • 6 ounces bacon
  • ½ cup breadcrumbs
  1. Cut bacon into small pieces
  2. Fry bacon until crispy
  3. Drain fat and dampen bacon on a paper towel
  4. Mix bacon and breadcrumbs
  5. Peel and thinly slice onion
  6. Wash and shred lettuce
  7. Heat butter in large soup pot over medium high heat
  8. Cook the onion until tender
  9. Add lettuce
  10. Cook just until wilted
  11. Add chicken broth
  12. Wait for boiling
  13. Add peas
  14. Cook about 10 to 15 minutes until peas are tender
  15. Purée soup in blender a couple cupfuls at a time
  16. Salt and pepper soup to taste
  17. Sprinkle breadcrumb/bacon stuff on top of served soup

This time the soup was pretty tasty. I think the addition of onion and bacon helped quite a bit. I don’t remember exactly what was in the last recipe, but I’m pretty sure those weren’t in it.

Pea Soup
Pea Soup

Greg Atkinson’s Meat Loaf

A few years ago when I worked at Ye Olde Chaine Bookstore, Sasquatch Books pimped out Greg Atkinson’s West Coast Cooking to us. Or had us pimp it out. The deal was, whichever store sold the most copies would get a prize. Or something. That’s how the book came to my attention. I did buy a copy using my employee discount at some point. I haven’t been inspired to use it all that much, though I’m not sure why. I don’t recall getting any bad results from using it, other than his version of rice pilaf which I thought was pretty bland.

One recipe I did like was his meat loaf recipe, and I got a hankering for meat loaf this week. So I made it last night.

This is my adapted version. For the real version, you’ll need to find your own copy.

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 pound mild Italian style bulk pork sausage
  • 1 onion
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • ¼ cup mushroom broth
  • ¼ cup ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • bacon
  1. Preheat oven to 375°
  2. Grease a 2 quart casserole pan
  3. Chop the onion in a food processor
  4. Add eggs, bread crumbs, broth, ketchup, salt, pepper, thyme, and nutmeg.
  5. Pulse food processor until everything is mixed well
  6. Combine beef, sausage, and onion mixture in a mixing bowl
  7. Mix meat and onion by hand (spoon sucks for this)
  8. Press into an (artisan bread) shape in the casserole pan
  9. Lay bacon slices over the top
  10. Bake for approximately 1 hour

What really makes this is the addition of sausage as well as the abundance of onion. Also, it’s very easy, though that’s not unusual for a meat loaf.

Sauced Chicken Breasts with Apples and Onions – Cooking Fail

Sometimes I post recipes that worked for me. This one didn’t, though it’s probably my own fault. It came from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2000.

As always, recipe below is what I made, not exactly what was in the cookbook.

  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 boneless chicken breast halves
  • olive oil
  • 2 sweet onions
  • 3 granny smith apples
  • 1 teaspoon marjoram
  • 1+ cups apple cider
  1. Cut onion vertically, into thin wedges.
  2. Core and slice apples
  3. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in a freezer bag.
  4. Add chicken and shake to coat.
  5. Brown chicken on medium high head in olive oil, then set aside.
  6. Sauté onion in olive oil until lightly brown.
  7. Add apples and marjoram.
  8. Sauté 5 more minutes.
  9. Add chicken and cider.
  10. Bring to a boil.
  11. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

This was flavorless and mushy. I think where I went wrong was a) using mayan sweet onions instead of regular yellow onions, b) using too much cider, and c) not paying attention until it had been boiling for a while.

I think it’s the first time I’ve ever cooked with marjoram too.

No picture, because the fail was just too much. It doesn’t even look tasty.

Italian Sausage Pie

Tried this recipe out the other night. It comes from Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of Casseroles.

Recipe is what I made, and does not exactly match what’s in the cookbook.

  • 1½ pounds bulk sweet Italian sausage
  • 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
  • ½ chopped sweet onion
  • 6 teaspoons minced garlic from jar
  • 16 ounce package hot roll mix
  • 5 eggs
  • 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ½ of a 15 ounce carton ricotta cheese
  • ½ of a 10 ounce package of frozen chopped spinach
  • 2 4 ounce cans sliced mushrooms
  • 1 more egg
  • shredded Parmesan cheese
  1. Thaw spinach and drain
  2. Preheat oven to 350°
  3. Cook sausage, pepper, onion, and garlic in large skillet over medium heat until sausage is browned
  4. Prepare hot roll mix according to package directions through the kneading step (my hot roll package mix required another egg, as well as margarine)
  5. In a large bowl, beat five eggs
  6. Stir in 1 cup of the mozzarella
  7. Stir in ricotta
  8. Stir in spinach (I forgot this step, and had to sorta mix it in later)
  9. Stir in sausage/pepper/onion/garlic mixture
  10. Stir in drained mushrooms
  11. Grease a 9 inch springform pan
  12. Roll ¾ of the dough into a 15 inch circle on a heavily floured surface
  13. Lay it into the springform pan, pressing the dough into the sides
  14. Sprinkle bottom of pie with ½ cup of the mozzarella
  15. Add sausage/cheese/egg/etc. mixture into pie
  16. Add remaining mozzarella to the top of the pie
  17. Roll the rest of the dough into a top pie crust
  18. Place top crust on top, then fold edges over and pinch to seal
  19. Beat last egg slightly
  20. Combine 1 tablespoon of water with egg
  21. Brush egg on top of pie and let dry for 5+ minutes
  22. Score the top of the pie in a diamond shape, but don’t cut all the way through the crust
  23. Sprinkle with Parmesan
  24. Bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, remembering first to take your oven off pre-heat
  25. Cool on a wire rack for 20+ minutes
  26. Remove springform pan side, cut into wedges, and eat

Overall the pie worked out pretty good, though it was a bit soupier than I expected. I forgot to take the oven off pre-heat status (I have an older range), so that may have affected this. It probably could have used a spice or two added, though I’m not really sure what spices go well with sausage.