Happy St. Patrick's Day Soup!

Traditionally, I make corned beef and cabbage each St. Patty's Day. However, this year things were a bit crazy.

I hadn't been feeling well, the hub's family left that morning while we were at work from their visit with us, and we do NOT like Corned Beef and Cabbage in the crockpot - so I couldn't do a boiled dinner on a week night.

I wanted to find something though that would give us a similar feeling for St. Patty's Day dinner and I came across this recipe on Epicurious.com. Again, Loving this site for recipes lately - don't know why it took me so long to get on the Epicurious bandwagon.

This was SUPER easy, tasty and will be a make again in our house.

I did make some slight alterations to the recipe that we really enjoyed.

Served with some nice Irish Soda Bread, it was a good St. Patty's all around!

Bacon and Cabbage Soup
Epicurious.com

1 (1/3-pound) piece Irish bacon (available at specialty foods shops) or Canadian bacon (We used Canadian Bacon and I used a whole pound of CB)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (I used 4)
5 1/2 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth (I ended up using about 6 cups of stock and still adding water - again I was trying to make more than the recipe)
4 Turkish bay leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 small head Savoy cabbage, cored, thinly sliced, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used pre-shredded bagged cole slaw mix with the red cabbage and carrots as well and it was so much easier and added some nice color)

In small saucepan, combine bacon and cold water to cover. Cover, bring to boil over moderate heat, and skim foam from surface. Reduce heat and simmer 7 minutes. Drain and cool, then cut into 1-inch chunks. Set aside. (Omitted this step, just diced the Canadian Bacon and added it near the end of the cooking process to warm)

In 6-quart heavy stock pot over moderate heat, melt butter. Add onion and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add potatoes and sauté 2 minutes. Add stock, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and bring to boil. Reduce heat to moderately low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add cabbage and simmer 5 additional minutes. Discard bay leaves. Working in 3 batches, in blender purée soup until smooth (using caution when blending hot liquids) *NOTE* We did not puree it, we went for simplicity and rustic and it was so good to have all of the different pieces in there!. Return to pot, stir in bacon, and rewarm if necessary. Ladle soup into bowls and serve.

Oo La La! Vie La France!

Tonight we took a trip to France for dinner.

Ok not really, but I made crepes for supper.

I was just trying to think of some new things for dinners this week and thought ooo crepes could be fun.

Easy, Tasty, Fun dinner!




Mushroom, Spinach and Ham Crepes with Bechamel Swissh Cheese Sauce

(I made the recipe for the crepe filling up)

1 package pre-made crepes, warmed to be softened

1 package Morel ham steaks, 2 steaks, diced

1 small container of mushroom slices

1/2 large onion sliced thin

1 package baby spinach

2 T butter

Pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 package finely shredded swiss cheese


In a large sautee pan heat butter and saute onions and mushrooms until tender.

Add diced ham and cook until browned and warmed. Add 1 tsp. mustard and other seasoning sand stir in. Add spinach and let wilt.

In each crepe, add a T of swiss cheese and top with about a quarter cup of filling. Roll gently seam side down. Top with sauce and serve

Bechamel Swissh Cheese Sauce (from Good Housekeeping)

In a sauce pan melt 2 T butter and then add 2 T four and wisk together.

Slowly add in 1 cup warm milk. Stir for about 5 minutes until thick. Stir in 1/2 cup swiss cheese and season with 1/2 - 1 tsp. nutmeg.

Tasty goodness without the cost of an airplane ticket.

This recipe also qualifies for my friend Robin's Recipe Remix challenge!

Grilled Ham & Apples

Last nights dinner was so TASTY! From Southern Living Easy Weeknight Favorites.

1/2 cup orange marmalade (I used Apricot)

2 tsp. butter

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Cooking Spray

2 ham slices

4 small apples cored and cut into rings

I used my indoor grill pan instead of the outdoor grill.

Combine first 3 ingredients in measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute. I added a dash of cinnamon here. I also did this on the stove top in a small pot.

Coat grill pan or rack with cooking spray. Place ham and apples on grill and baste with the marmalade mixture. I did the apples first then the ham. I also seasoned the ham with cinnamon and ground cloves as well as the glaze.

Served with sweet potatoes and zucchini - great dinner! I used the Morel ham steaks - 2 to a pack..