Delicious Zuppa Toscana

I know I have not been a faithful blogger for quite some time now, but I would really like to change that.

If I set goals, maybe I can rectify my lack of posts.

So, the first goal that I am setting is to post a recipe once a week that will highlight one of Open A Bar 2 Ranch's premium all-natural beef.

This week I would like to feature our all new Italian Sausage.  It is yummy and so versatile.  Not only is it delicious any most any pasta recipe, but it can stand alone as the star topping on a pizza!  Italian Sausage is also awesome for soups.

I will be sampling this soup, made with Open A Bar 2 Ranch Italian Sausage at the Scottsbluff Winter Farmers' Market this Saturday from 11am-2pm.  The market is held in the greenhouses at Aulick's TLC on 3109 Avenue B in Scottsbluff.  You can pick up a package of sausage at the market on Saturday OR we also have our all-natural beef at Hometown Harvest Cooperative at 1214 Center Avenue in Mitchell.

If you think this blog post is a big fat plug for Open A Bar 2 Ranch, you would be correct!

But I promise I will try to post more things about the goings on around the ranch.  I know some of you like those stories better than the recipes.

Enjoy!

RECIPE: Dan the Man's Vegetable Beef Soup Italiano

BREAKING NEWS FROM THE
Open A Bar 2 Ranch
Lyman, Nebraska

December 7, 2010

Dan the Man makes dinner!


...and it wasn't even Tuna Wiggle, Frozen Pizza
or Heated Refried Beans from a can on Flour Tortillas!


Dan the Man "WOWS" the Country Chicken Girl by actually making dinner on Tuesday night. He made Vegetable Beef Soup Italiano from a recipe he found on-line @ Cooks.com.

Dan the Man said he was tired of his Country Chicken Girl never fixing anything with the meaty beef shanks that they had accumulating in their freezer. His momma fixes them and makes some mighty fine vittles with them. He was out to show his little Country Chicken Girl that the beef shanks were quite tasty and worth her time to start incorporating into their daily meals.

Dan the Man's Vegetable Beef Soup Italiano
(actually maybe it should be called Goulash, not Soup...)

VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP ITALIANO

Read more about it at www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1618,150164-244192,00.html Content Copyright © 2010 Cooks.com - All rights reserved. 1/2 lb. beef cubes 1 (16 oz.) can tomatoes 1 (16 oz.) can stewed tomatoes 1 med. size onion, diced Carrots, diced Celery, diced Potatoes, diced Turnip, diced Cabbage, diced Salt and pepper, pinch Pinch parsley and thyme Pinch pot herb Olive oil Small egg noodles (pastine) 1 soup bone In a large soup pot on medium heat, put in 2 tablespoons olive oil (diced beef cubes and saute along with soup bone. Next fill pot about 1/3 or more with water and add all diced vegetables and simmer for 1/2 hour. A film will appear on the surface. Remove film and add stewed tomatoes and whole tomatoes. Add parsley, salt, pepper, thyme, pot herb. Raise heat to medium and cook 1 1/2 hours. Reduce heat. Add egg noodles (Pastine) and 1 package mixed vegetables. Cook 1 hour longer (total cooking time 3 hours). Makes 12 to 15 servings (Thatsa Niza Soupa!)

Dan the Man made a few changes which included not using any turnip and using thick homemade style egg pasta instead of the small egg noodles (pastine).
How was a rugged ranch man suppose to know that pastine pasta referred to tiny soup pasta? Country Chicken Girl didn't even know that until she wrote this post and googled "pastine." Here is what she found on pastine pasta.
What is Pastine Pasta?
I imagine the soup would have been more "brothy" if the correct noodle would have been used, but everyone agreed it was still delicious.



What was left after Dan the Man, the Country Chicken Girl and Sky-man
filled their tummies!

Here is the link if you would like to print the recipe: Vegetable Beef Soup Italiano

And now a word from our sponsor the
OPEN A BAR 2 RANCH
Wouldn't you like to surprise and amaze your family too with this down home, yummy in your tummy recipe?

Well, you can!

OPEN A BAR 2 RANCH
will be selling these unbelievable meaty beef shanks at the
Scottsbluff Winter Farmers Market
or you can call them direct and come pick some up right at the ranch.
Dan the Man and the Country Chicken Girl always have their door open.
Fix your little buck-a-roos some hearty soup tonight!


Here is a picture of Dan the Man when he won
the 2004 Bobby Crocker Cookoff!!

RECIPES: Kathi's White Chili and Heavenly Buttered Rolls

The other night I made CLASSIC BBQ CHICKEN (click for the link to that recipe.) I love this recipe! And since I have made a pack with myself not to waste the chicken carcass (because it makes wonderful broth and can make one more meal with the chicken) I decided to make White Chili using the left over carcass from the BBQ Chicken. I served the chili with these addicting Heavenly Buttered Rolls. Did I say addicting? I meant ADDICTING!

Once again, I think my MIL (mother-in-law) will be proud of me. Can you believe it Penny, I haven't thrown away a carcass since I started this blog. I admit it, I use to throw away the carcass because I didn't want to mess with it. My mother and grandmother would probably have a fit, like Penny did, if they knew that I did that. Actually, Penny didn't "have a fit," she's not like that!

Anyway, I found a recipe in my "Crème de Colorado Cookbook" but as you know by now, I have a hard time following a recipe without doing things "my way" so I decided to give it to you the way I did it and call it Kathi's White Chili.



KATHI'S WHITE CHILI

One Chicken Carcass

Put the lonely chicken carcass in a large pot of water and place on stove. Add 3 or 4 peeled carrots and 4 to 5 stalks of celery cut into quarters. Then add 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. pepper, 2 tsp. onion powder, 2 tsp. garlic powder, 2 tsp. basil and 2 tsp. chicken seasoning along with any other seasoning you think would add nice flavor. I'm guessing on the amounts because I usually just go through my spices and add what ever jumps out at me, I never measure, I just dump it in and hope I don't ever do it on any one spice! Call me reckless, but that's the way I do it! Bring to boil, then turn down the heat to a strong simmer (is that a cooking term?) and cover with the lid.

If you don't have a carcass laying around in your kitchen, you can do this with a whole chicken!

Meanwhile, dump 1 pound dry White Northern beans into another large pot, bring to a rolling boil, turn off the heat and cover with a lid. I don't wash or sort my beans, once again, there's that reckless side of me, and I've never had a rock in my meals, at least I didn't find one as I was eating the dish!

Now go to a "Herd Quitters" meeting like I did for 2 1/2 hours with Dan the Man. Or just find someway to kill 3 to 4 hours. Ohh, hope the house doesn't burn down while I'm gone. Reckless again, I know...

When you get back and if your house is still standing, take the chicken carcass or whole chicken out of the broth and turn off the burner. Chicken should be falling off the bone. If it is not to that point yet, turn the heat up a little, put the lid back on and check back in half an hour.

Let the chicken cool and then when it is cool enough to work with without burning your fingers, pull the meat off the bones and put in the refrigerator.

Strain the broth, keep the carrots, but toss the celery. Strain the beans. I guess if you see a rock or other foreign object, you can remove it. Dump the beans into the broth, cut the carrots into chunks and add to the broth and place on the stove. Simmer and cover until the beans are tender, somewhere around an hour or so.

Meanwhile... If you did the whole chicken, shred what ever chicken meat you want to add to the chili and put the rest into a bag and freeze. You can use the left over for another meal. You need about 3 cups of chicken for the chili. I got my other chicken from the freezer, out of my shredded chicken stash I have in there. It was my last package so I'll have to boil up some more chickens soon.

Anyway, this recipe sure is long....

After the beans are tender, add the chicken, lots of cumin (I love, love, love cumin) like 2 or 3 tablespoons, two cans (you know those little cans) of diced green chiles and anything else you want to flavor the chili with. You could add onions, jalapenos, whatever... The secret to a great soup is the spices you add so be sure to taste the broth and add some if you think that it needs it. Cook for a half hour or so on low heat. Let those flavors meld together.

Yummmm, smells so good!

Serve with sour cream and shredded Monterey jack and cheddar cheese. Oooo, sliced black olives would have been good, too bad I didn't have any.

Delish!


Then I also made these rolls.

They are heavenly, addicting, so good they should be outlawed!




HEAVENLY BUTTERED ROLLS

Generously spray a cast iron skillet with cooking spray. Put seven Rhode’s frozen dinner rolls in the skillet. Cover with a towel and leave for 5 hours or so, or until the have risen and are touching each other in the skillet. They should completely cover the skillet if they have risen enough. Brush with melted butter. Use real butter, don't skimp! Sprinkle with course salt like kosher salt or course sea salt. You can stop there or add more flavor by adding sesame seeds, poppy seeds, garlic powder, dried onion flakes, rosemary... You get the idea. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes until deep golden brown on top. Serve in the skillet and try to behave yourself. You don't have to eat four of them, but you can if you want to!



I baked mine just a little too long. Hate it when that happens, but they were still delicious and I had a hard time behaving, actually I didn't behave at all! I ate three! Oink, oink!

It was just Dan the Man and myself for dinner that night, so I didn't want them to go to waste!

There I feel better justifying my weakness.

oink!

Tator in his basket with His Piggy

(my mom gave me this little pig about 30 years ago,
it oinks when you squeeze it and Tator has adopted it.)

Great Comfort Food, RECIPE: Cheesy Chicken Chowder

This soup says comfort food in capital letters! Nothing fancy, just simply delicious! I got it out of the newspaper. It came in one of those little inserts that is like a little magazine, AmericanProfile. The recipe was submitted by Marsha Baker of Pioneer, Ohio. Let's all give Marsha a round of applause for this tasty treat.


Cheesy Chicken Chowder

2 (14 oz) cans of reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups diced, peeled potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken

Note: I used my homemade chicken broth using one of my hand-raised and lavishly loved chickens, remember the post One Chicken; Three Meals? Hint, hint, if you buy my chickens, you can make your own broth and it will be much healthier for you and taste so much better! This paid (well, unpaid) advertising was brought to you by Open A Bar 2 Ranch Farm Fresh Pastured Poultry!

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour and mix well. Gradually stir in milk and cook over low heat until slightly thickened. Stir in cheese and cook until melted. Add cheese mixture to broth and vegetables along with the chicken. Cook and stir over low heat until thoroughly heated.

I served it with Jalapeno Cheddar bread that I had bought from the bread man this past summer at the Farmers Market. I froze some so that we would have his bread through the winter. Those of you who frequent the Farmers Market in Scottsbluff during the summer know who I am talking about when I refer to "the bread man." He has the best bread! I need to figure out this recipe for the Jalapeno Cheddar bread. I'll let you know if I make any progress so that we can all make it! Watch out Mr. Bread Man, here I come! Run, run as fast as you can because I will figure out your recipes and share with all. Ha, ha, ha, in an evil laugh.

Whoa, where did that come from? Guess I'd better stop before I lose all of you.

Oh, if you want to be on my chicken mailing list so you can pre-order chickens for this coming summer, slip me a note with your address. I will be sending out the order forms soon. Those who don't pre-order are always so sad when I have to tell them that I am sold out for the year.