Here’s another installation of what I’ve been cooking and where you can find it! Feel free to follow my recipe board on Pinterest so you don’t miss something I find but don’t share here! To start it off, I’ve been on a soup kick. The weather got cool and I instantly craved a nice, hearty bowl of soup. I may or may not have about five soup recipes I still want to try… But I promise, I have been cooking things besides soup lately too! (Clicking the photos will take you to the recipes!)
Well in case you didn’t know… I had an abundance of corn. So naturally, there’s only so much you can do with corn. I decided to make some of my FAVORITE soup. I came across this corn chowder with chiles a while back, made it, and fell in love. Seriously, this is lick the bowl good soup (at least for me). It’s creamy and with the added smoky kick the chipotle chilis give it, it’s right up my alley! My farmer ate it, he wasn’t too thrilled with it. But he didn’t NOT like it. It just wasn’t his cup of tea. I add potatoes to my corn chowder, I like a little more substance. This increases the cooking time a bit, just to ensure the potatoes cook all the way through.
Now since I thought ahead and pretty much could foresee that my farmer may not like PW’s version of corn chowder, I came across this basic corn chowder recipe and made it too. I basically followed the previous recipe’s instructions but used the ingredients in this recipe instead. This corn chowder was absolutely delicious as well and the addition of the cheese at the end is perfection! Since I made two pots of soup in one evening and we didn’t even come close to finishing them both, I now have two kinds of corn chowder in my freezer!
Surprisingly, this vegetable soup was chosen out of my horde of soup recipes by my farmer. And it was simple, quick, and delicious. It gives you some different options when choosing vegetables to add to it. I added potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, and green beans to mine. As well as some small ring noodles. The noodles gave it some more substance. I also added an extra Tbs of tomato paste to mine as well! My farmer’s Grandma makes a delicious vegetable soup which is hard to trump but this recipe is very close. In order to make sure my farmer had enough to eat, I served this soup with grilled cheese. And surprisingly, even with no meat, he ate it up. And even complimented me on it! So ladies, if my meat and potatoes man eats this, it’s possible yours will too!
I found this recipe while I was still back in California after a trip to San Francisco where I had eaten at a fantastic Thai restaurant which served a chicken curry with potatoes. I fell in love. It was so good, perfect amount of spice and sweetness, the flavors just melded together so well. Problem was I had ZERO idea of how to make it, so I hopped on the internet and found it. Anyway, while I was cleaning out my recipe binder, I found this recipe and KNEW I had to try it. So I had to buy a few ingredients online because I couldn’t find Madras curry powder (my favorite) anywhere in North Dakota, but everything else is pretty easy to come by even out here on the prairie! I will admit, my farmer was a little skeptical and he was thinking Indian curry which is very different flavor profile, BUT he ate it, said it was good, and went back for more. I mean it does have his two food groups in it, meat and potatoes! I suggest this recipe to anyone thinking about venturing into the road of ethnic cooking. It’s simple, not too spicy, and delicious! I found my curry powder on Amazon, they’ve got a great selection of ethnic food items that may be hard to find!
Well in case you’re new, haven’t been following, or missed it I finally bought a kitchen aid mixer. Her name is Buttercup, she is yellow, glorious, and pretty much rocks my world! I had a few zucchinis in the fridge and needed to get rid of them. To say my farmer hates zucchini would be an understatement, he despises it, loathes it. He wouldn’t touch this bread with a 10′ pole, but I happen to like zucchini bread. So this one was all for me and I had the ingredients in the house. This is a simple, easy, and delicious recipe. I wish I would have had some walnuts to add to this, the crunch would have made this bread perfect! And the mixer made this bread SO easy. No mixing by hand, it was glorious! Not only do I suggest this recipe, but I also suggest investing in a mixer! For the amount of time they last, they are totally worth the initial investment!
It was one of my dear friends birthdays here in North Dakota, so I figured I’d bake her a cake. Simple chocolate cake, can’t go wrong with that. Some chocolate cakes I’ve made get complex. This one was straight forward, simple, and easy. It didn’t require me to run to the store, most items I had on hand. Plus it was moist and delicious! And could be whipped up in a snap with my new mixer! I will definitely be adding this cake to my recipe box when I need a quick, simple, and easy chocolate cake for a birthday or special occasion.
The other night I needed something simple and quick for supper. I found this recipe and decided to give it a whirl. I didn’t have egg noodles on hand so I substituted elbow macaroni. What is it about North Dakotans and elbow macaroni..? But anyway, I think I used more noodles than this recipe calls for but my casserole turned out dry and made the noodles kind of hard to eat. The leftovers of this meal were better when I added salsa and cream before I heated it. So, although this recipe was delicious, next time I try it, I will probably add some salsa and cream to it before it goes in the oven so it’s nice and saucy. But if you’re looking for a simple and quick dinner (or supper here in ND), try this out. And let me know how yours turns out!
If you haven’t already noticed, I cook A LOT of things from the Pioneer Woman. Every one I’ve tried has just been simply delicious. I don’t think I’ve found one yet I haven’t liked. This one is no exception. These suckers were EXTREMELY RICH. My farmer LOVES sweets and he could only put down one. This recipe also makes TWO pans full which was way too much for the two of us to finish in a decent amount of time. I ended up freezing half of them. So if there’s just a few of you, cut the recipe in half. I was kind of nervous about this recipe, I’ve never made anything like it before. But these turned out just fine AND weren’t that hard at all. Just follow the recipe and you will be good. Sometimes it’s good to indulge. 😉
Well that is what’s been cooking in my kitchen… What have you been cooking up? Anything worth sharing? I’m always looking for new recipes!
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Thanks for linking my Chicken Curry recipe to your post. I hope you are able to try it some time it is really delicious and fairly easy to make too.
Yum! I love soup too. That corn chowder with chiles sounds amazing!
corn chowder sounds so yummy…i’ve got an corn coming out of my “ears”..sounds like i should make some of this…wonder if it freezes well? lovely post…sarah
Yummy! I love different types of soup. And zucchini bread..yes. Great blog Jen! 🙂
So, I do believe that you are now a “NoDaker”, you need to learn how to make knoephla soup…you can find many variations on the web, but here is mine http://nddreamer.blogspot.com/2011/03/knoephla-soup.html. This came from a true German lady. Also, find some kuchen and try some lefse and fleischkuekle.
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Thank you! I know I need to try my hand at some traditional German dishes. Truth be told, I’m actually kind of intimidated. I mean I’m the outsider in a family full of German women who have mastered the art of cooking their traditional dishes.Criticism when it comes to my cooking is hard for me to swallow. Especially when it’s like we’ll my mom or my aunt or whoever does it like this. But I need to get over that and just do it! after all I am my own person with my own palette and tastes. 🙂