What’s Cookin’, Good Lookin’?

Yummmmmmmmmmmm!  Now with that said, let me give you a true confession.  I don’t dig sandwiches as a general rule.  I don’t consider them “real food.”  To me, sandwiches are something you eat as a snack to wait until it’s time to eat “real food.”  But paninis are a whole different thing than your average sandwich.  They are a sandwich on steroids or something like that!

I started making this panini a couple years ago.  Since then, it’s become a favorite at my house.  They menfolk that live here could eat this sandwich everyday!  Even the picky little #2 Ankle Biter loves and asks for this panini.  And it’s so easy, the kids can make it or at the very least help out a LOT making it!

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Filed under: Ankle Biters, Main Dishes, Meal Ideas, Menus, Pork, Recipes, Sandwiches | 7 Comments »

It’s December.  It’s cold.  And that just begs for SOUP!  There’s just nothing else in the world that warms the bones and screams “COMFORT” more than a hot, steaming bowl of soup!  So today, we’re going to make some Loaded Potato Soup.  This soup is not your “normal” potato soup!  We’re going to add all kinds of extra flavors to it!  And when we’re done, your little pea-pickin’ heart is going to be singing!

Let’s make some Loaded Potato Soup!  Did I mention it’s LOADED?  Cuz it is!  Here’s what you’ll need:

Russet potatoes, onions, green onions, garlic, heavy whipping cream, fresh peppercorns for grinding, sour cream, ham pieces (the “seasoning” pieces that will often say “Beans and Greens Seasoning,”) bacon bits (or you can cook your own bacon and chop it up) and shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Peel the potatoes………….Now with that said, you’re certainly welcome to use any potato you want for this, but I prefer russets for this.  If you prefer red potatoes, use those.  And in all honesty, if you’re in a tight pinch and have absolutely NO time to stand and peel potatoes, a couple bags of frozen cubed hashbrowns will work wonderfully!  I prefer to make it with potatoes I peeled myself, but if you’re craving potato soup and have no time to stand and peel 5-10 pounds of potatoes, those little bags of hashbrowns just can’t be beat!

If you are peeling potatoes and not using the hashbrowns for a quickie potato soup, cut the potatoes into chunks like you would for mashed potatoes.  Cut them fairly large so you will have some texture to the soup.  If you cut them really small, it will be a much smoother soup.  Either way will work, but we prefer a potato soup with a little more “chunk” to it.

Put the potatoes in a large stock pot and cover them with water.  Add just enough water to barely cover them.  You don’t want to drown them.  You’ll be pouring off most of the cooking liquid when they potatoes are tender.

Add some fresh-cracked pepper to the potatoes.

And add LOTS of garlic!

Now while the potatoes are cooking, let’s get the “Loaded” part ready.  Open the ham seasoning pieces and lay them out on a cutting board.

Using a sharp knife, cut the ham into small pieces.  You’ll need a super-sharp knife for this because a dull one just will not get the job done!

Now dice up your onion.  I like LOTS of onion for this.  Use as much or as little as you like.  Take the outside off the onion then cut it in half root to tip.  Lay it cut-side down like in the photo and then cut it into several thick slices.

Turn the onion sideways and cut across the thick slices you made to cut the onion into small chunks.  If you like it diced fine, by all means, cut it into smaller pieces.  Again, I like the layers of texture in this soup with the large chunks of potato and the large dices of onion.  But do what you and your family like!

The onions are ready to go in the hot tub!

Get your pan or skillet super hot!  See this fantastic pan?  I HIGHLY recommend this pan!  It’s a Calphalon sauteuse pan.  Tall Skinny Man got me not one, but TWO, for Christmas!!!!!  I LOVE THIS PAN!  OK, back to your regularly scheduled program.

OK, see that spoonful of loveliness?  That would be bacon grease!  There’s nothing quite as good as some pig cooked in pig!  But if you don’t happen to have any bacon grease on hand, olive oil, vegetable oil, canola, butter, whatever fat you have on hand will work fine.  This is NOT health food!  This is comfort food!   And pig is mighty comforting at my house!

Let the bacon grease melt and get super hot.  Or let your oil and/or butter get super hot.  Just remember if you use butter, you will need to also use some oil also because the butter can’t take the high temperature without turning brown.

Now add the onions and ham to the hot pan.  The smell will instantly make you sing!  It’s fantastic!!!!

Keep an eye on it.  You want to keep moving it around the pan until the ham and onions are caramelized.   It will take a few minutes, so be patient!  Trust me!  It’s well worth it in the end!

They’re starting to sizzle now!

See how the pan looks when you move the ham and onions aside?  Those beautiful little brown bits on the bottom?  That’s when you know the natural sugars in the onion are cooking out and you’re about there!

You’re THERE!  They’re ready!  Just turn the heat off and let them sit there until you’re ready for them.

In the meantime, drain the majority of the water off the potatoes.

Now add the potatoes back to the pot.

Pour in the heavy whipping cream.  Don’t be shy!  Remember, it ain’t health food!  Your weary soul needs some comfort and this is just the thing for that!

Give it a good stir until all the cream is combined with the potatoes.

Now add the sour cream.

Stir it in until it’s well-combined.  You don’t want to see any of the white lumps from the sour cream.

Now add the ham and onions.

Oh my gravy!  This soup is HAPPY now!  It’s VERY happy!  And you’re just about to be very happy too!  Because it is <_> <—-this close to being ready to eat!

Now slice the green onions!  You’ll be adding those to the top of the soup.  YUM!!!!!!!!!

I like to use both the onion part and the “green” too.  If you prefer one or the other, just use the part you like.

Now serve it up in a bowl and add some of the shredded sharp cheddar cheese, a sprinkle of bacon and some of the green onions.  Oh my goodness!

OHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODNESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!  Did I say that already?  That’s OK, because it bears repeating!  Park this fantastic soup beside your favorite sandwich and you’ll be in comfort food heaven!  I can’t even tell you how delightfully comforting this soup is!

Loaded Potato Soup

*  5 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cubed

*  16 oz. sour cream

*  1 quart heavy whipping cream

*  fresh cracked pepper, to taste

*  minced garlic, to taste

*  2-3 onions, diced

*  1 pkg. ham seasoning pieces

*  1 bunch green onions, sliced on the bias

*  1 pkg. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

*  1 pkg. bacon bits or 1 pkg. bacon, fried and crumbled

Peel and dice potatoes.  In a large stockpot, cover potatoes with water.  Add fresh cracked pepper and garlic to taste.  Do not salt!  The ham, bacon and cheese will add salt to the soup later.  Boil until potatoes are tender.  While potatoes are boiling, cut up onion and ham.  Fry in bacon grease or oil/fat of choice until onion and ham are caramelized.  Drain most of the water off the potatoes.  Return potatoes to the stockpot and pour in the heavy whipping cream.  Stir.  Add the sour cream and stir until well-combined.  Add the ham and onions to the soup.  Stir them in.  Ladle the soup into bowls and top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, bacon and green onions.

And friends, that is Loaded Potato Soup!  The ultimate in comfort food!  I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do!

Stay tuned because I’ll be sharing the sandwich you see beside this soup.  It’s a Cheddar Apple Bacon Panini!  My family LOVES paninis!  So be on the lookout for that recipe to show up here soon!

Have a fantastic day!

Filed under: Main Dishes, Meal Ideas, Menus, Pork, Recipes, Soups | 8 Comments »

Right now, just go ahead and get down on your knees and say a prayer of repentance.  Trust me!  You’re going to need to beg forgiveness for your wicked soul after making and eating this pie!  Cuz it’s just downright evil, wicked, mean and nasty GOOD!  Me?  I’m just plum ashamed of myself for serving it!  And with Praline Ice Cream on top, to boot!  Lord, have mercy on me!  Forgive me, for I have sinned!

Y’all wanna sin too?  LOL  Honestly, this pie will just flip your wig!  I’m a fat woman and I love to eat!  But dessert usually isn’t my “thang.”  But this pie?  OH YEAH BABY!  Ummmmmmmmmmmmm!  Did I mention evil?  Wicked?  Mean?  And NASTYgood!?  OK, yeah, I thought so, but I think it bears repeating!

Years ago when I was baking for other folks, I started making this pie as part of a Holiday package.  The turkey was great!  Dressing too.  But folks went crazy over this pie.  Kentucky Derby Pie, or as it is sometimes referred to as just Derby Pie, came from Kentucky about half a century ago.  It started as the specialty pastry at a little inn in Prospect, Kentucky called the Melrose Inn.  It got its name from putting a bunch of names for the pie in a hat.  And VOILA!  Kentucky Derby Pie was born!  It actually has nothing to do with the famous race held in Churchill Downs every year.  But it has everything to do with FABULOUS!

Let’s get started making this delightfully sinful creation!  Here’s what you’ll need:

Flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, chocolate chips, pecans and pie crust.

Bought pie crust, Amy?  Seriously?  You don’t make your OWN pie crust?  Well, you see, it’s like this.  See this beautiful lady?

That’s my Granny.  You see, Alene could make pie crust that would make you cry!  The flakiest crust that ever passed your lips!  Those of you out there old enough…..do you remember those Loretta Lynn commercials where she was hawking Crisco because it made the best pie crust?  Well, ole Loretta made a lot more money than my Granny ever saw in her lifetime, but I guarantee you, that mess she called pie crust couldn’t hold a candle to the magnificent pastry that came out of my Granny’s kitchen.  Can I make pie crust?  Sure I can!  But mine ain’t gonna make you cry like Granny’s would.  So why make all that mess on the counter rolling out dough if it’s not going to be positively spectacular when you’re done?  Thus, bought pie crust!

So let’s put this pie together!  It’s so simple your kids can do it!

Start out by pouring the sugar into a mixing bowl.

Now add the flour in with the sugar.

Melt the butter.  I use my Pampered Chef microwave steamer bowl for melting butter.  Once the butter is melted, set it aside to cool for a little while.

When the butter is completely cool, add it to the flour and sugar mixture.

Give it a little mix.  It doesn’t have to be completely mixed yet.  Just get the dry ingredients wet so they won’t clump when you add the eggs.

See?  Like this.  It’s not smooth, but the big clumps are gone.

Break the eggs into a bowl individually.  Once you break one egg and know it’s OK, add it to the mixing bowl.  You always want to break eggs one at a time and add them one at a time so you don’t end up ruining a dish by adding a rotten egg straight into the mixing bowl.  If you break them one at a time into a separate bowl, you can just toss the one bad egg.  That’s a good rule of thumb for any baking.

Now mix the eggs in and beat the mixture well with a wire whisk.

Add the vanilla after you’ve gotten the eggs well incorporated into the batter.  But let’s stop a minute and talk about vanilla.  Y’all, if you don’t ever listen to another word from me, listen now.  PLEASE, use real vanilla.  Please don’t use that “imitation” vanilla.  Get real vanilla extract!  It really DOES make a difference in taste!

Whisk until all the lumps are gone and the vanilla is all stirred in.  And you could stop right here and bake this pie up and it would taste just grand!  But we’re about to make this pie happier than a dead hog in the sunshine!  What makes a dead hog all that happy, sunshine or not?  I dunno personally, but that was an Alene-ism and since we’re making pie, I thought I’d throw in an ode to Granny there.  I just know this pie is about to get crazy happy!

Throw in some chopped pecans.  You can chop your own, but I’m a little too lazy for that.  I bought ‘em already in pieces!

Now add semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Make sure they’re semi-sweet and not milk chocolate.

Now fold those into the batter.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, mercy me!  Somebody shout “GLORY” and pass the offering plate cuz surely there’s a sinner out there that just came to know Jesus over this pie!

Lookie there!  It’s ready to go into a pie crust.

So let’s do that.  Pour the batter into a prepared pie crust.

Just like this!  In the oven it goes!  And in a few minutes, you’re going to be smelling something heavenly wafting through your house!  This might be a good time to tell you that you probably shouldn’t ever just make one of these at a time.  It’s a good thing to just go ahead and double everything and make two.  Cuz one is NEVER enough!  EVER!  And it’s just as easy to whip up two as it is to make one.  Trust me on this!  You will SOOOOOOOOOOO be sorry if you only have one of these in the house.

And there you go!  Kentucky Derby Pie in all its glory!  I think I might just hear the Hallelujah Chorus playing now!  It’s that amazing!

Kentucky Derby Pie

*  1 cup sugar

*  1/2 cup flour

*  2 eggs

*  1 stick butter, melted and cooled

*  1 cup pecans, chopped

*  1/2 bag chocolate chips

*  1 Tbsp. vanilla

*  1 deep dish pie crust

Melt the butter and set it aside to cool.  Pour the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl.  Once the butter is cooled, add it to the sugar and flour mixture.  Stir together until the large clumps have disappeared.  Add the eggs one at a time, then stir into the mixture until well incorporated.  Add vanilla and stir.  Add pecans and chocolate chips.  Fold those into the batter.  Pour into a pie crust.  Bake in a pre-heated 325° oven for 1 hour.  Serve warm, straight out of the oven or room temperature.

Whew!  Words almost fail me now.  What else is there to say about this pie?  It will rock your world!  This is great for the Holidays!  You can make up 6 or 8 of these pies and wrap them and throw them in the freezer!  Then when Thanksgiving or Christmas comes along, take it out and let it get room temperature.  It will be just like you baked it fresh!  This will be great for your Holiday dessert buffet, church potluck, work party or Sunday night supper!  This pie also makes a wonderful home-baked gift!

I hope you enjoy this pie as much as we do!  Happy Holidays friends!

Filed under: Christmas/Holidays, Dessert, Thanksgiving Ideas | 8 Comments »