Friday Food Fun - Week 12 - In a Hurry

If I was throwing a dinner party, and one of my dishes was ruined, I would throw together my "French onion" soup. It's my version, but I always have the main ingredients on hand.

Beef broth

Any combination of
diced celery
diced onion
can mushrooms
roast beef
black eyed peas

Put it in the microwave and you have a new course for dinner.

Friday Food Fun - Week 9 - Cheeses

1. What types of cheese do you like? Swiss, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Smoked Gouda are my favorites that I can remember.



2. Are there any types you won't eat? Processed American cheese


3. Do you like to eat cheese plain, or do you prefer it in a recipe, or both? Both


4. What is one of your recipes where the cheese is an important addition to the dish? Taco Dip


1 pound hamburger meat                    1 tablespoon chili powder
14½ ounces can stewed tomatoes    8 ounces cream cheese
10 ounces Monterrey Jack cheese  10 ounces sharp cheddar cheese


Brown hamburger meat in skillet. Add chili powder and canned tomatoes. Simmer for 30 minutes. Spread cream cheese in bottom of microwaveable dish. Top with meat sauce. Add grated Monterrey Jack cheese and grated sharp cheddar cheese. Heat, uncovered, in microwave for 10 minutes or until hot. Serve with corn chips.

Friday Food Fun - Week 7 - Soups

1. Do you only like soup well enough to eat it occasionally during the really cold winter, or do you love it so much you eat it a lot during the hot summer as well? I prefer soup during the winter, but sometimes if it's not too hot I will eat a bowl of soup other times as well.
2. Do you make your own soups or do you usually eat from a can? I usually eat from a can, although there are several soups that I make from scratch also.
3. What are your favorite soups, stews, chowders, broths, or bouillabaisses?
I love Japanese seafood soup, oyster stew, clam chowder, salmon stew, French onion soup, loaded baked potato soup, vegetable beef with barley soup, beef stew, potato soup, chicken vegetable soup, cabbage soup, butternut squash soup, italian wedding soup, tomato soup, and several other canned varieties that I don't remember the name of.
4. Do you prefer heartier stock or simple recipes? Mostly heartier stock.
5. Do you prefer broth or cream-based recipes? cream based
6. Do you prefer milk/cream based or tomato-sauce based recipes? milk/cream based
7. If you have a good soup recipe, please post it.
    I just recently started making this personal version of French onion with a twist.
    1 can beef broth, and based on what I have on hand, diced onion, diced celery, roast beef, and mushrooms. Microwave until hot.

Yum!

Friday Food Fun - Week 6 - Appetizers

Spinach-stuffed Mushrooms

½ pound small button mushrooms
kosher salt
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped fine
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ pound fresh spinach leaves
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tablespoon parmesan, fresh grated
3 wedges Laughing Cow Swiss cheese
**Could use 1½ ounces of cream cheese

Preheat broiler. Remove stems from mushrooms and scoop out gills, if preferred. Sprinkle mushroom caps generously with kosher salt and set aside. Heat oil in pan and add garlic. Once garlic is aromatic, add spinach and salt to taste and sauté until wilted. Remove spinach from heat. Chop spinach mixture with Laughing cow or cream cheese and distribute between mushroom caps. Sprinkle with a bit of both cheeses and place under the broiler until the cheese starts to brown and bubble.

Tastes: Friday Food Fun - Week 4 - Fruits

1. What is your favorite fruit? Cherries is my #1 favorite. I also like pineapple, muscadines, red grapes, peaches, watermelon, honeydew melon, figs, and kiwi.
2. If you like fruit salad, what is your favorite combination of fruits to use. I don't care much for fruit salad. But, any combination of my favorites would be fine. You could also add red apples, strawberries, oranges, bananas, cantaloupe and white grapes.
3. Do you have a fruit theme in any of your non-edible items (like clothing, jewelry, handbags, towels, wallpaper, etc.) I have cherry towels and washcloths, 3 cherry purses, a cherry billfold, cherry earrings, a cherry slide, pineapple slide, watermelon slide, and apple slide for my silver chain necklace, a cherry duffle bag and tote bag and several cherry shirts.
4. What is your favorite fruit juice? I like red grape juice, apple juice, and fruit punch made from cherries, apples, grapes and oranges.
5. What is your favorite fruit-flavored ice cream? I love homemade cherry, peach or strawberry ice cream. I like storebought cherry vanilla and black cherry ice cream and lime and orange sherbet.
6. What is your favorite fruit recipe?
There is a delicious fruit pizza recipe that is very good. You make a sugar cookie crust. The sauce is cream cheese. You could probably blend in a little powdered sugar to give it a different thickness. Then you layer slices of the fruit for the toppings. It's very good. You can choose which fruits you want to use. I also like to dip red apple slices in caramel dip and that is much easier than making a fruit pizza.
7. Are there any fruits you don't like? I do not like lemon, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, mango or papaya. There may be others that I haven't tried.