Chili Cheese Tortilla Soup

1 small onion, chopped
2 T. oil
2 1/2 c. chopped or diced tomatoes (canned 1 or 2 cans according to taste)
3 c. chicken broth
2 - 3 chicken breasts, chopped into small pieces
1 - 2 cans (4 oz.) green chiles, chopped
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 potatoes or sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped
1 - 2 carrots, chopped fine

Saute onion until soft.  Add tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and potatoes & cook until tender (about 40 minutes).  While that is cooking, cook chicken with a little oil until fully cooked then cut into small pieces.
Once cooked, add cheddar or your favorite cheese and tortilla pieces into your hot soup.  Let each person add their own cheese & tortillas according to their taste.

*Lorena made this while we were in Israel and it made a delicious dinner!

French Onion Soup for Two

Do any of you ever have cravings from restaurants where you used to live, but none from where you currently live? My cravings this week come from Le Madeleine in Washington, D.C., thousands of miles away from Seattle. Their French Onion soup has been on my mind all week... ahhhh.... it's SO GOOD. And it's the perfect dish when it's cold and foggy outside.  

I realize Britt already posted a recipe for French Onion soup a while back, but this recipe is more up my alley. I am all about easy recipes. Her's looked intimidating (really, it just had ingredients I didn't have). This recipe is revised from several recipes to accommodate my lack of certain ingredients, but even better... it's revised to feed just TWO people.  Which I know you all basically cook for two, since your children eat like birds.  

So, here we have it. It was amazing. I just wish I had those little bowls/cups to eat it in. I had to resort to a big bowl, which was just fine, because that meant I got to eat more. 

FRENCH ONION SOUP FOR TWO

3 cups beef broth

1 large onion, sliced thin

3 tablespoon butter, divided (or olive oil, if you insist on being healthy)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 minced garlic clove 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Dash of nutmeg

Several slices of Gruyere cheese (or Swiss)

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese 

2 slices French bread (it must be noted that my grocery store here sells mini baguettes... perfect for this recipe )

In a large saucepan, saute onions in 2 TBS butter (or oil) until golden brown. About ten minutes in, add the sugar to help caramelize. When onions are soft and golden, stir in the garlic and dash of nutmeg. Saute about one minute, then add the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt 1 TBS butter; add sliced bread. Cook until golden brown on both sides. 

Ladle soup into two-oven proof bowls, leaving room at the top. Place sliced bread on top of bowl, cover with slices of Gruyere, and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. 

Place bowls in oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and brown. 

Enjoy! 

Simply Delicious Dumplings

I had turkey left over from a holiday meal so the other day I made turkey and dumplings.   My older sister use to make chicken and dumplings when my parents would go out of town and last week I was thinking that I've never made a dumpling. 

This recipe is so easy and they taste delicious. Try them, you'll like them!

This recipe would also be good with a thicker beef stew.

1 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T. butter

1/2 c. milk

Stir together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly.  Stir in the milk until the flour is absorbed.  Drop by spoonfuls into the hot stew.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes without lifting the lid.  Serve hot.

Lamb Stew with Plums

Last night I hosted my book club, and we discussed the Hunger Games. I wasn't sure what kind of food to prepare for it, but luckily this book/movie is so trendy that there were Hunger Games-inspired recipes all over the internet.  Apparently Katniss (for those of you who have read the book) mentions that she could eat the Capital's lamb stew with plums by the bucketful. I concur.  This was so good, and it made so much, that some of the girls asked to take some home with them.  I sort of combined the original recipe with another one that had plums, so I'll add the modifications below.  I served with bread and honey butter and it was delicious! Also, just because I feel like typing still... I will tell you that I think lamb is one of my favorite meats.  It is always so tender.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced 6 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 large onion, chopped 1/2 cup water Mushrooms, chopped

4 cups beef stock (I think I added a few cups more) 2 teaspoons white sugar 4 cups diced carrots 2 large onions, cut into bite-size pieces 3 potatoes 1 teaspoon dried thyme 2 bay leaves  1 cup dried plums, chopped (prunes)  1 can tomato sauce 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons corn starch

Directions:

1.	Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2.	Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat.
3.	Place meat into crock pot (leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan). Add the garlic and yellow onion and mushrooms and saute untill onion begins to become golden. Deglaze frying pan with 1/2 cup water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the crock pot with bacon pieces, beef stock, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
4.	Add carrots, onions, potatoes, plums thyme, bay leaves, brown sugar and tomato sauce to pot. Reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.  To thicken soup, mix cornstarch with 1 cup of the broth.  Enjoy!