Butternut Squash Spicy Bisque

This recipe is for people who can handle heat!

This recipe is modified from a recipe that I tore out of a magazine. It looks like the recipe was strangely part of a Kahlua ad.

Ingredients:
1 large or medium butternut squash
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup celery, chopped
3/4 cup carrots, chopped
1 medium white onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups chicken broth
3 heaping teaspoons of green chiles from a can of chopped green chiles
2 tablespoons of hot sauce
1/2 cup sour cream
Coarse salt
Black pepper

Start by preheating the oven to 400. Halve the butternut squash lengthwise. Be careful with your knife. I've had a few close calls when cutting squash. Remove the seeds, and set them aside for later. Remove the pulp and throw it in the garbage.

Grease a Dutch oven or baking dish with one tablespoon of olive oil. Flat side down, place the squash in your dish. Stab the skin of the squash just like you pierce a potato with a fork. To roast the squash, put it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Let the squash cool. Remove the flesh and set aside. Don't burn your fingers.

In your Dutch oven or other pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat. Add in the celery, carrots, and onion. Tenderize these veggies. This will take 10-15 minutes. Now add the minced garlic. Saute for three minutes. Then, add flesh of the squash. Stir well and add chicken broth. Boil, and then reduce the heat to low until the vegetables are tender. This will take about 30 minutes.

While you wait, toast the squash seeds on medium-low heat in a small pan. Let the seeds toast for about 30 minutes. Salt the seeds.
Take the soup off the heat to cool, and use an immersion blender or food processor to blend the soup. After all of the soup is blended, add 2 teaspoons of the chopped green chiles and 2 tablespoons of hot sauce. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of the chopped green chiles and sour cream. Season with salt and black pepper.

Serve the soup. Throw a dollop of the sour cream/chiles mixture into each bowl (mine sunk) and garnish with the toasted seeds.This was quite delicious in a spicy, flavorful way.

Super Bowl Appetizers

I know that these recipes are less exciting since the Super Bowl occurred three weeks ago, but these appetizers would still be awesome at any future function. I was a huge fan of both of these appetizers.

This Spicy Buffalo Chicken Balls appetizer is from a Martha Stewart recipe. I absolutely LOVED this recipe, and I'll be making these again in the future. They were spicy but the spice wasn't overwhelming.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
3/4 cup hot sauce
2 lb ground chicken (I had trouble finding this. Not all grocery stores carry ground chicken.)
1 cup chopped celery
1 2/3 cup breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 teaspoons coarse salt
Blue cheese (as a dipping sauce)

Preheat the oven to 450, and grease a pan.

On low heat, add the hot sauce and butter to a saucepan. Heat and whisk this mixture until well blended.
Then, cool this mixture until room temperature. Now add the ground chicken, celery, breadcrumbs and eggs. Toss in a couple teaspoons of salt.

Now start forming the balls- just like you make beef meatballs. Place the balls on an oiled baking sheet. You want the balls to be touching on all sides. Cook for 15 minutes at 450. I pulled out my thermometer after the 15 minutes to make sure that the chicken was at a safe temperature. I get nervous about chicken. Let the balls cool for 5 minutes and then toss and coat the chicken balls with hot sauce. Blue cheese dressing can be used for dipping.I forgot to bring blue cheese dressing to my Super Bowl party, and they were just fine without the dressing. I served the chicken balls in a crock pot on warm. They are much better when served warm.

I also made Bacon and Cheese Wrapped Tater Tots with Hot Sauce. I found the recipe here. I substituted the Tobasco for some Frank's RedHot. They were super easy to make.

They were a hit. Obviously anything with bacon is awesome. I also served these in a crock pot.

Lasagna Soup Deliciousness

I have tried a ton of awesome soup recipes, and this lasagna soup recipe was definitely one of my favorites. It also made for AWESOME frozen leftovers which I was cautious about. I'm going to make it again this weekend when we are in northern Wisconsin.

I slightly modified this Lasagna Soup Recipe from an awesome blog, A Good Appetite. Go check out that blog. It's also on our list of "What we are reading.." on the right menu.

It seems like a lot of ingredients, but it's actually a lot of stuff that you probably already have.

Ingredients:
1 lb hot Italian sausage (If you can handle it, otherwise wimp out and get the medium)
3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons of kosher salt

pepper
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 cups of crushed or diced tomatoes (I used some that I had leftover in the freezer)
2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons sherry
1 cup milk
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan
1 cup ricotta

6 lasagna noodles

When I first made this recipe, I didn't have a Dutch oven. This week, I bought a Dutch oven, and I'm elated to use it in the future.

For this recipe, you certainly can use a Dutch oven, but you could also use a stockpot. Start by browning the sausage. After the sausage is browned, set it aside, but continue using the pot/Dutch oven for the next step. Toss in a little olive oil and tenderize the garlic and onions.

Then, add the oregano, basil, salt-n-peppa, and tomato paste. Cook these ingredients for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes. Simmer for 15 min.

In another big pot, start boiling water for the lasana noodles. Cool the noodles until your desired tenderness. I'm an al dente girl, but it's kind of irrelevant in a liquidy soup, especially when frozen. Drain the noodles.

Go back to the simmering mixture. Now, it's ready to be blended. My sister gave me an immersion blender for Christmas, and I can't wait to try it with this recipe! After this mixture is blended, put it back in a pot on low heat. Add in the chicken stock, sherry, and milk. Then, add the Parmesan and ricotta. This makes for an odd texture. At first I didn't like the texture, but I grew to love it. You'll want to melt these ingredients over the low heat, but they'll never total become smooth. The texture will always remain.

Finally, add the sausage and noodles.

Serve alone. I wouldn't add crackers or any garnishes to this soup. It's a meal in itself. Enjoy!

Turkey and Spinach Curry

I found this recipe in the New York Times, and I modified it. I had already used some of the leftover turkey to make this dill soup. Now it was time to try making a curry dish.



Ingredients:
2 T peanut oil
1 t ground ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 t turmeric
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/4 t cayenne
1 c chopped tomatoes
1 c coconut milk (unsweetened)
Salt
Pepper
6 oz of fresh baby spinach, trimmed, chopped
2 c leftover Thanksgiving turkey
1/4 c Frank's Hot Sauce
Cilantro, chopped
White rice

Start by heating the oil on medium heat in a saucepan. Add the ginger, garlic, and onions until they are soft. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, and cayenne. If you are a spice wimp, cut back on the cayenne. Stir for one minute.Add the undrained tomatoes and coconut milk. I used some tomatoes that I had in the freezer. Toss in a dash of salt and pepper. Boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes.

Now, add the spinach and turkey. The spinach will wilt. After 5 minutes, check to make sure that the turkey is warm. Stir in the hot sauce (only if you like spicy food). Serve over white rice. Garnish with the chopped cilantro.

Check to see if it needs more salt. Serve!


Next time that I make this, I'll probably add some cashews and mushrooms.

Curried Vegetable Soup

I have been making a lot of soups lately because I'm quite busy (three jobs), and soups are really easy to freeze.

I'm a very dedicated meat eater, and making recipes without meat is difficult for me. I decided to give this recipe a whirl because I'm head-over-heals in love with a man named Curry.

I found this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine publication called Everyday Easy Recipes.

Ingredients:
3 cups of cauliflower
1 14 oz can of coconut milk
1 14 oz can of chicken broth
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 cups frozen peas/carrots
1/4 teaspoon salt

I bought a 32 oz container of chicken broth, and the recipe only called for 14 oz. That meant that I needed to do some Google calculations! Do you know how to find out how cups are in 14 liquid oz? Just type in 14 oz to cups in the search box. Want to know what I did with the other 18 oz of chicken broth? I froze it. Learn how.

In a large pot, add the broth, coconut milk, cauliflower, cilantro, and curry powder. Confession, I also added about a tablespoon of Frank's hot sauce. I think that curry and hot sauce deserve to be together.
Boil.

Turn down the heat to medium-low. Cover for 10 minutes. Stir in the frozen veggies. Leave it uncovered. Read a magazine. What is new with the Kardashians?

After the frozen veggies are warm, serve! You can garnish with the cilantro and red pepper. I went a little crazy with the red pepper.

Isn't it pretty?

Caution, it was quite spicy.

"If you can't stand the heat, you better get out of the kitchen." - Harry Truman

Buffalo Chicken Dip

This is my go-to appetizer.

I usually have these ingredients in my refrigerator, and my guests always love it. You could make this recipe spicier by adding more hot sauce and some crushed red pepper. Obviously you can make it less spicy by using less hot sauce.

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked, cubed chicken breast
8 oz of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup of blue cheese dressing
1/2 cup of hot sauce (I always use Frank's)
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese


I always use Philadelphia cream cheese. I have dabbled with generic brands and reduced fat options, and I have always been able to taste a difference. Also, they don't seem to blend as well. I hate when my cream cheese isn't well blended.

I have made this recipe many times, and I have used many different options for the chicken. I have used baked, fried on the stove, and even canned. I prefer not to use canned chicken, but if I am in a time crunch, I definitely use it. I cooked the chicken on the stove this time because I didn't have a lot of time, and I didn't have any canned chicken.
Prepare yourself for the easiness?! Combine all of the ingredients and mix well. If the cream cheese isn't blending well, I sometimes get out the hand mixer. Cook for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is the finished texture. No photo could do this dip justice. Let it cool for about 10 minutes. I usually put this dip in a mini crock pot. This dip should be served warm. Serve with chips, crackers, or celery sticks.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I absolutely love spicy food. It feels like a fun challenge for me to eat the spiciest thing on the menu at restaurants, and I add hot sauce to a lot of recipes.

This Buffalo Chicken Pizza recipe did not require me to add any spice! It was pretty hot.

Now, whenever you make pizza, you could make your own crust. I have made it from scratch for other pizzas, but I was short on time for this meal. It was just easier to use a purchased crust.

Ingredients:
2 cups of chicken breast, cooked and cubed
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup of hot sauce (I always use Frank's)
8 oz bottle of blue cheese salad dressing
1 (16 inch) pizza crust
2 cups of shredded mozzarella
crushed red pepper

Combine the chicken, melted butter, hot sauce, and red pepper. Next, spread the blue cheese salad dressing on rolled out pizza crust. I love blue cheese dressing. Hot sauce and blue cheese are always a great combo.

Be careful if you shred your own cheese. I had a little accident. There goes my hand modeling career...

No cheese was contaminated in this accident.


Add the chicken mixture and shredded mozzarella.


Cook at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Isn't that quick?

Finished pizza!! Doesn't that melted mozzarella look delicious?


A trick for reheating pizza-- don't use the microwave. Reheating pizza in the microwave leads to soggy pizza. To regain the crispy crust, toss the leftovers on a cookie sheet or pizza pan at 425 until is starts bubbling again.