Best lentil soup

Thank you to My Material Life blog for posting this recipe

My Favorite Lentil Soup, from Jane Brody’s Good Food Book

• 2 T olive or vegetable oil
• 2 c chopped onions
• 3 carrots, coarsely grated
• 3/4 t marjoram, crumbled
• 3/4 t thyme leaves, crumbled
• 1 28-oz can tomatoes with their juice, coarsely chopped
• 7 c broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)*
• 1 1/2 c dried lentils, rinsed and picked over
• 1/2 t salt
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 6 oz dry white wine
• 1/3 c chopped fresh parsley or 2 T dried parsley flakes
• 4 oz Cheddar, grated

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and saute the onions, carrots, marjoram, and thyme, stirring the vegetables for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, broth, and lentils.  Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer the soup for about 1 hour or until the lentils are tender.
3. Add the salt, pepper, wine, and parsley, and simmer the soup for a few minutes.  Serve with cheese sprinkled on each portion.

* Instant pot - saute in pot and then cook on manual 10 minutes.
* In place of homemade broth, you can use 3 bouillon cubes with 7 cups of water or 3 1/2 cups of canned broth and 3 1/2 cups of water.

This is quick and easy and quite good, considering it all comes from cans.

In Ghana, I modified a bit - no tomatoes with green chillies so I added some extra red pepper flakes and mexican spices to regular canned diced tomatoes

Canned chicken broth is expensive so I used "Better than Bouillon" that we brought from home - plus water.

and frozen corn was easier to find

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup

• Prep
  5 m
• Cook
  15 m
• Ready In
  20 m

Recipe By:Terryn

"Delicious and EASY zesty soup recipe that uses only 6 canned ingredients! Serve over tortilla chips, and top with shredded Cheddar cheese. Throw away the cans and no one will know that it is not from scratch!"

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 (10 ounce) can chunk chicken

 

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained

Directions

1. Open the cans of corn, chicken broth, chunk chicken, black beans, and diced tomatoes with green chilies. Pour everything into a large saucepan or stock pot. Simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through.

German Apple Puff Pancakes

Delicious recipe from Kittencal

I made these this morning and they were gooooood

SERVINGS 4

INGREDIENTS

                  4 
tablespoons butter, divided (one more tablespoon butter won't hurt)

                  4 
large apples, peeled and sliced

                  3⁄4
cup flour

                  3⁄4
cup milk (or use half and half cream)

                  1⁄2
teaspoon salt

                  1⁄4
teaspoon baking powder

                  1 
tablespoon sugar (optional or to taste)

                  4 
large eggs

                  1⁄3
cup sugar (can use 1/2 cup sugar)

                  1 
teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste)

DIRECTIONS

                  Set oven to 400 degrees F.

                  Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with cooking spray (or one larger pan)

                  Place 2 Tbsp butter in each of the pans.

                  Place the pans in the oven and bake until the butter has melted; remove from oven.

                  In a bowl, beat the flour, 1/4 teaspoons baking powder, sugar (if using) salt, milk and eggs until smooth, then allow to stand for 30 minutes.

                  Arrange the apple slices into the two pans onto the melted butter.

                  Re-whisk the flour/egg mixture again then divide the batter evenly between pans, over the apple slices.

                  Mix the sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over the batter in each pan.

                        Bake until puffed, and golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

French Onion Soup - slow cooker - easy

This is delicious!

from allrecipes

Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

Rated:  Submitted By: Chandrav Photo By: twilightgrove Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 4 Hours 35 Minutes Ready In: 5 Hours 5 Minutes Servings: 8

"Beefy French onion soup is made in the slow cooker, then topped with the traditional slice of toasted French bread and a savory mixture of four cheeses, then broiled until browned and bubbling. It's fun to let people assemble their own bowls, too."

INGREDIENTS:

6 tablespoons butter 4 large yellow onions, sliced and separated into rings 1 tablespoon white sugar 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup cooking sherry (or fruit juice) 7 cups reduced-sodium beef broth 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1 bay leaf 8 slices of French bread 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese 1/3 cup shredded Emmental cheese 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Heat butter in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir onions until they become translucent, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle onions with sugar; reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring constantly, until onions are soft and browned, at least 30 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2.	Stir sherry into onion mixture and scrape bottom of pot to dissolve small bits of browned food from the pot. Transfer onions into a slow cooker and pour in beef broth. Season to taste with sea salt; stir in thyme and bay leaf. Cover cooker, set on High, and cook 4 to 6 hours. If desired, set on Low and cook 8 to 10 hours.
3.	About 10 minutes before serving, set oven rack about 8 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Arrange bread slices on a baking sheet.
4.	Broil bread slices until toasted, 1 to 2 minutes per side.
5.	Combine Gruyere, Emmental, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses in a bowl, tossing lightly. Fill oven-safe soup crocks 3/4 full of onion soup and float a bread slice in each bowl. Top with about 2 tablespoons of cheese mixture per serving.
6.	Place filled bowls onto a baking sheet and broil until cheese topping is lightly browned and bubbling, about 2 minutes.

Slow cooker black beans

These are good! I made them yesterday and ate them today

Recipe is from Cafe Johnsonia

Slow Cooker Black Beans

Substitute any dry bean in this recipe. Variations included below the main recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. black beans, picked over to remove broken or wrinkled beans or small stones
6 cups water
1 onion, halved or diced
2-3 whole garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon salt (this seems like a lot, but is fine with this much water, you can use less if desired)

Instructions:

Place the beans in a big bowl, cover with water, agitate the beans a few times to remove any dirt, drain in a colander and rinse again.

Place black beans, onion, garlic cloves, and bay leaf in a slow cooker. Add water.

Cook on high for about 3-4 hours, testing after 3 hours. To test doneness, spoon out a few beans and blow on them. If the skins peel back, they beans are ready. Taste just to make sure. If all of the water has been absorbed, add more. Beans must stay completely covered to prevent them from burning. If cooking on low for 6-8 hours, test the beans at the 6 hour point.

Add the salt and let cook, or sit with heat off for another 20-30 minutes, to absorb the salt. Remove the bay leaf, garlic cloves, and onion before using, if desired.

Use immediately, or allow to cool before transferring beans and some of the cooking liquid to a zipper-lock freezer bag or airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week, or freeze up to 3 months. If freezing, flatten bag in freezer–it makes for easier defrosting. Defrost in warm water.

Variations:

White beans (Great Northern, Cannelini, navy, black eyed peas)
*add to the slow cooker: chopped vegetables (carrots, fennel, celery), rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic, onion.
*use in salads, soups, purees, braised (side dish)

Pinto
*add to the slow cooker: a few sprigs fresh cilantro, dried oregano, a diced chile (serrano, jalapeno, etc), ground cumin, onion, garlic, bay leaf.
*use in chili and soups, salads, refried, etc.

Kidney
*cook the same way for pinto or black beans
*for use in Italian soups–proceed as for the white beans

Of course there are other flavors you can infuse, these are the most basic ways we use them in our house

Indian Lentils and Spinach

I found this on allrecipes

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 white onion, halved and sliced into 1/2 -inch rings 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups chicken broth 1 cup lentils 1/2 cup water 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander 1 teaspoon salt (decrease salt if you use salty broth) 1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (quite spicy - maybe decrease a bit) 1 bay leaf 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach (I used fresh and stirred it into the hot lentils 1/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Heat oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in the hot oil until beginning to turn golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add minced garlic to onion; cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute more.
2.	Mix chicken broth, lentils, 1/2 cup water, crushed garlic, coriander, salt, cumin, chili powder, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf into onion mixture; bring to a boil. Cover pan, lower heat to medium-low, and simmer until lentils are soft, about 35 minutes.
3.	Place spinach in a microwave-safe bowl and add 1/4 cup water; heat in microwave for 5 minutes. Stir spinach and continue cooking in microwave until heated through, about 5 minutes more. Let spinach cool, about 5 minutes; drain water and squeeze excess water from spinach.
4.	Mix spinach into lentils; cover pan and simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Sicilian Chocolate Gelato

This is my absolute favorite homemade ice cream recipe

3 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder (cocoa powder quality is important - I like sharffenberger - but best of all my local Ghana Goldentree cocoa)
1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch

In medium saucepan bring 2 cups milk to a simmer. Meanwhile whisk the remaining cup of milk with the sugar, cocoa and cornstarch.

Scrape the cocoa mixture into the hot milk.

Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and bubbles a little at the edges. Stir and cook for one minute longer.

For extra smoothness, strain though a wire mesh strainer. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Freeze according to ice cream maker instructions.

Makes 1 quart.