Food, Food, Food

This weekend my sous chef aka Justin helped me cook some food. These recipes were outstanding!!! It felt good to get back to cooking, such a calming time for me.

Also on a positive note, we made Swiss Steak in the crockpot two days ago. Jade ate the exact same meal we did and feed herself everything. She used her fork for the steak, her spoon for the mashed potatoes and jello. It was a great night. Last night was take-out. . Justin is working crazy long hours again this week. Hopefully tonight is Ranch chicken and baked sweet potatoes and everyone will eat it.

Recipes from Food Network - Ina Garten aka Barefoot Contessa
- we kept out some meatballs and fished out some pasta from the soup and that is what Jade ate along with the bread.

Italian Wedding Soup
For the meatballs:
3/4 pound ground chicken - I just used 1.25lbs. of ground chicken and skipped the sausage
1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs - used half white and half Italian bread crumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the soup:
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots (3 carrots), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3/4 cup diced celery (2 stalks), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
10 cups homemade chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars - used the mini bow ties and used a little more 1.5c.
1/4 cup minced fresh dill - used 1/8 of a cup of dill
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed - used only one bag 6 oz. thats all I had
Added a can of white northern beans to the soup)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don't have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan.

Garlic Bread
6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil - used 1/4 c.
1 loaf ciabatta bread
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and process until minced. Add the parsley, oregano, salt and pepper and pulse twice. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan and add the garlic mixture. Remove the pan from the heat. Slice the ciabatta bread in half horizontally, and spread the butter on 1 half. Spread the garlic mixture on the other half of the bread, and put the halves together. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil. Place the bread in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Open the foil, and continue baking for an additional 5 minutes.