French onion soup

This recipe is not fast but surprisingly, it's little hassle. It's also extremely delicious.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
6 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups water
1 can (14 1/2 ounces | 1 3/4 cups) chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 slices (1/2 inch thick) french bread - I used french sour dough
4 ounces (1 cup) Gruyère, swiss or muenster cheese

Method:
In a large pot melt butter over medium heat.
Add onions and salt.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are very tender and begin to caramelise - about 45 minutes.
Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring often, until onions are deep golden brown, about 15 minutes longer.

Put onions in a bowl.
Add 1/2 cup of water to pot; heat to boiling over high heat, stirring until browned bits are loosened from bottom.
Add broth, thyme, and remaining water.
Heat to boiling over high heat.
Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer about 30 minutes, until onions are very tender.

Meanwhile pre-heat over to 450'f.
Place four 2 1/2 cup oven safe bowls in jelly-roll pan.
Spoon onion soup in bowls; top with bread pressed lightly into soup.
Put cheese on bread.
Bake until cheese melts and begins to brown, 12 - 15 minutes.

*I use larger oven proof bowls than the 2 1/2 cup ones. Mine are big enough to top with 2 slices of bread.

Chidester Pot Roast

Description:
This is how we make it in the Chidester household. Please comment on how your recipe differs.

Ingredients:
1 4-5 lb roast
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup with garlic
2 envelopes beefy onion soup mix
1-2 lb baby carrots
1 large onion
8 oz mushrooms, quartered
about 1 c water

Directions:
Put the roast in your crock pot.
Add the vegetables.
Top it with the soups and water.
Cook on low for 6 hours, or until done.

We make ours with mashed potatoes instead of cooking them in the crock, because there is never enough room for them. I just got a bigger crock, but I'll probably still mash because I can never get the potatoes to cook all the way through.

According to my crock pot cookbook, you shouldn't take the lid off while your meal is cooking.

Also, you're only supposed to fill you crock pot 2/3 of the way because that's how high the heating coils go. (I always fill to brimming, and my food cooks just fine.)

BeQui's Non-Greasy Fried Chicken

Ingredients:
Chicken tenderloins (Whole breasts take too long to cook.)
vegetable oil
2 T margarine/butter

Coating:
about 1/2 c flour
any spices you like. I prefer chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon herb seasoning, salt, and pepper. It is next to impossible to put too much seasoning in your flour.

Directions:
Mix flour and spices in a bowl or bag.

Pour just enough oil into a frying pan to cover the bottom. Add the margarine. Heat over medium-high heat. Watch out, this stuff splatters.

Dry your chicken tenderloins with paper towels, then dip in the coating. (I read somewhere that you can put the spices on the chicken first, THEN the flour, and the seasonings will stay on better. I think it tastes fine without the extra step.) Fry in the hot oil. I usually cook for 2 minutes on one side, flip, 2 minutes, and then repeat. This will get the coating really crunchy and golden.

Drain in a metal strainer or on paper towels.

We like it best with mashed potatoes, and broccoli or steamed green beans.

Pumpkin Enchiladas

1/2 red pepper, diced 1/2 white onion, diced
1 T olive oil
2 tsp chopped garlic (I used the refrigerated kind in a jar)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or more or less - according to your taste)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin (maybe more)
1 tsp cinnamon (I used more of this, too)
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed
1 large can pumpkin puree

small corn tortillas (I used about 17)
1 bag Mexican mix finely shredded cheese
2 cans medium red enchilada sauce (I think I used Old El Paso brand)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil over medium heat in large skillet. Add onions and peppers. When onions become translucent. Stir in garlic. Add remaining spices. Reduce heat to med-low. Add black beans and pumpkin. Mix all ingredients together and remove from heat.

To assemble enchiladas:

Spray 9"x13" or a few 8"x8" baking pans with non-stick spray. Place about 1/2 T of cheese mixture on a tortilla. Add 1/4 - 1/3 C of pumpkin mixture on top and roll tortilla - not too tight - corn tortillas tend to be fragile. Place folded side down in baking pan. Repeat, placing enchiladas closely, side by side, until pan is full or you run out of ingredients. Pour some sauce over enchiladas. Don't drown the enchiladas. You should still be able to see them under the sauce. You'll need more than one can, but still have a lot left over. Sprinkle more of the cheese over the sauce and bake for 20-30 minutes. Enjoy.

Cake Balls

1 chocolate cake mix (and ingredients on back of box)
1 tub cherry frosting
2 packages milk chocolate almond bark
1 package white chocolate almond bark (opt.)

Bake cake according to directions on box.
While cake is hot and fresh from oven, mix and mash together with tub of frosting till it's one ooey gooey mess.
Place ooey gooey mess in freezer till completely cold.
Roll ooey gooey mess into one-inch balls.
Melt almond bark.
Roll cake balls in chocolate, covering completely.
Place cake balls on wax paper.
Cut small hole in corner of zip-loc bag and put white chocolate inside bag.
Squeeze white chocolate in zig-zags over the cake balls (I did a really sloppy job because the bag exploded).
Leave cake balls on wax paper until chocolate hardens.

You can potentially use any combination of cake and frosting for this recipe. Chocolate cake with cherry frosting is my favorite. I have also added orange extract to vanilla frosting and used that with chocolate cake. That was scrumptious as well. You can also roll cake balls in white chocolate. Be creative!

Apple-Cinnamon Butternut Squash Soup

8          cups cubed seeded peeled butternut squash (2 medium)

1          large apple, peeled, chopped

1          large onion, cut into 1-inch pieces

2          tablespoons packed brown sugar

3/4       teaspoon salt

3/4       teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8       teaspoon pepper

4          cups chicken broth

1          container (6 oz) Greek plain yoghurt

2          tablespoons chopped fresh chives

In a large soup pot combine all ingredients except yoghurt and chives.

Cover and heat to boiling.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend 1/3 of the mixture at a time or use an immersion blender and blend until smooth.
Return to pot - add yoghurt and mix well.
Serve sprinkled with chives.

recipe modified from here.

Olive Garden Spinach & Artichoke Dip

This recipe is from food.com, my comments are in parentheses. I love this stuff!!

2 fresh artichokes
1 lemon, juice of, squeezed
1 teaspoon salt

OR

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced (I used fresh, but I LOVE canned. Mmmmm.)
1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
8 ounces Mascarpone cheese, room temperature (This is Italian cream cheese. It comes in a tub.)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leave
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 fresh garlic clove, minced
5 green onions, chopped
salt
ground black pepper
1 (6 ounce) package fresh spinach, chopped
(I added 4-5 slices bacon, cooked crisp then crumbled)
8 slices crusty Italian bread (I used a round loaf of sour dough, sliced thin.)
extra virgin olive oil-to drizzle on bread (I didn't do this step)

1. Artichoke Preparation:.
2. TRIM off stems and dry leaves/ends of leaves
3. BOIL artichokes in 3 quarts water with 1 tsp salt and lemon juice for 30 minutes.
4. COOL artichokes. Clean, peel, remove center “choke” (the hairy part) and slice artichoke.
5. FOLLOW Dip Preparation steps below.
6. Dip Preparation:
7. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
8. MIX all ingredients in a large bowl, except bread and extra virgin olive oil. (Room temperature cheese wasn't soft enough to stir, so I microwaved it all together for almost a minute. I figured it was going to get baked anyway.)
9. COAT a large non-stick baking pan with pan spray; fill pan with mixture. Bake at 325ºF for about 25 minutes or until bubbling and center is hot.
10. DRIZZLE both sides of bread with extra virgin olive oil. Grill bread on both sides. (I left out the oil and just used my toaster.)
11. SPRINKLE top of heated dip with Parmesan cheese. Serve hot with grilled bread.