Lentil Soup x2

Lentil Soup is a very easy and tasty dish to make. I made it two different ways and will have both represented here. Originally I made a simplified version only consisting of Lentils and Onions. The second version has more in it. I will explain Version 1 first and follow it with Version 2.

Ingredients:
Version 1:
1 White Onion
1 cup Red/Orange Lentils
1 cup Green Lentils
Italian Seasoning
Celery Salt
Perfect Pinch Cajun
Garlic Salt
6 cups Water
1/4 stick Sun Dried Tomato Basil Butter

I began by getting my spices together.

I then got out my White Onion and proceeded to dice it up.

Oh my, found some tasty Butter to caramelize the Onion in.

Now put Onions in with the melting Butter.

Once Onions are caramelized, add in 2 cups of Lentils.

Pour in your water.

Let it cook, stirring once in awhile, until done. The Lentils will be like little sponges and soak up almost all of the water.

I served this on Wild Rice with some shredded Cheese on top. Enjoy.

Version 2:
1 White Onion
1 cup Red/Orange Lentils
1 cup Green Lentils
Italian Seasoning
Celery Salt
Perfect Pinch Cajun
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
6 Celery stalks
8 Sm Carrots
1/4 stick Butter
6 cups Water

Alright, this recipe mainly follows Version 1 with a few changes.

First off, like no pictures. Sorry but it's sort of redundant. You begin by dicing up your Onions, Carrots, and Celery stalks.

Then you caramelize the Onions in regular Butter.

Add in the diced up Carrots and Celery when the caramelization begins. Stir together thoroughly.

Add in Lentils once Carrots soften up a bit.

Add in Water at same time. Stir.

Once Lentils are soft enough to eat, turn off heat and serve. Enjoy.

Clams in Broth

Alright, so I am not really known for my taste for seafood. Today I decided to twist that up and cook up some Clams. I've done this once before and I love how easy it is to do.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb Clams
1 Yellow Onion
1/2 stick Butter
Garlic Salt
Garlic Powder
Perfect Pinch: Cajun
Ground Black Pepper
Italian Seasoning
White Wine

I began by putting my bottle of White Wine in the fridge. I then gathered the other materials. Make sure to scrub your clams with a brush or something since they most likely have some grit/sand/dirt on them still.

Dice up your Yellow Onion. I used about 3/4 of the Onion in this recipe. Put Butter in a saucepan and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Once the Butter starts to melt, add in the diced Onions.

I did my seasoning at this point as well. I did a healthy pinch of everything listed, with a little more emphasis on the Italian Seasoning and Garlic Powder.

Now grab your chilled White Wine.

Pour some in the saucepan once the Onions have caramelized.

Now find your clams.

Put them in.

Turn them every so often if you want. I did but I also have no idea if this helps them cook properly or not. When they are done, they will open up. Take them off pretty quickly once this happens.

I chose to serve them in a bowl along with a portion of the broth they were cooked in. Enjoy.

Cast Iron Frittata

So I've made Frittata and posted on here about it before, however that was always done with just a skillet/saucepan. Now I used a cast iron skillet I've had around and I think it improved the flavor at least 10 fold.

Ingredients:
9 Eggs
1 Green Bell Pepper, finely diced
1 Poblano Pepper, finely diced
1 Yellow Onion, finely diced
1/3 stick Butter
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Paprika
Garlic Salt
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Gruyere Cheese
Monterey & Colby Jack Cheese

Alright, so first things first. Get your cast iron skillet ready. This took me quite awhile since I had not used it in a long time and it may have gotten a little rusty. So to clean this don't use soap. It causes headaches. I used Olive Oil and a paper towel to wipe it down until it was fixed. This takes awhile.

Once you have that done, cut up a stick of Butter to where 1/3 of it is in the cast iron skillet, along with some Olive Oil. At this point empty out your oven and turn it to 400 BAKE.

Now gather the rest of your ingredients.

First, dice your Onion up very finely. You can leave it chunky if you prefer that, but I like it finely diced so that's just what I did!

Second, dice up your Green Bell Pepper. I also diced up my Poblano Pepper after this but no picture since it looks pretty much the same just darker.

Turn on the burner your cast iron skillet is on, I set it at MEDIUM. Once it melts most of the Butter into the Olive Oil, dump your diced Onions in and move them around.

At this point I cracked the eggs into a mixing bowl and mixed them up together with a dash of Ground Black Pepper and Sea Salt.

Your Onions should be caramelized quite nicely by now.

Add in your diced Peppers.

Mix together and add a light dusting of Garlic Salt and Paprika.

Once the Peppers start to soften, turn off your burner. Add the Egg mixture to the skillet. Top it with however much cheese you want on top. I went crazy with it.

Into the oven it goes. Make sure to use an oven mitt or something similar since the cast iron skillet will burn you.

It takes about 10-20 minutes to cook properly. I like my eggs a little drier when I make Frittata so I left it in the oven for about 18 minutes. You can tell it is done by the edges of the Frittata mixture pulling away from the sides of the skillet.

Due to my large amount of cheese used, there was a large cheese bubble on top of my Frittata! Once it began to cool it went away, but still interesting to see.

I let it cool for about 5 minutes and then cut into pieces and served. Make sure to use a sharp object like a knife to edge around the Frittata, otherwise it might stick to the outside when you are trying to remove it for consumption. Enjoy.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Today I was feeling a little under the weather and thought how I would feel better. Then I remembered the cure all for all ailments, Chicken Noodle Soup. I had some Chicken in the fridge that I had to use for something soon, so I threw it in the freezer and went to the store. I needed more materials. This recipe is the delicious result.

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts, diced
1 bag Whole Wheat Egg Noodle Pasta
4 Carrots, diced
1 White Onion, finely diced
4 Celery stalks, halved and sliced
1/2 stick Butter
Caesar Salad Dressing
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
32 oz Vegetable Broth
32 oz Chicken Broth
1 cup Water (optional)

So, I began at the store for this recipe. I knew I wanted to make Chicken Noodle Soup and all I had for it was the Chicken and Carrots. So I picked up some White Onions, Celery, and the 2 Broths.

I put the Chicken in the freezer first because when it's partially frozen it is a lot easier to cut into small pieces.

I then added some Caesar Salad Dressing to it and set it aside since it comes into play much later on.

Now dice up your Carrots, White Onion, and Celery stalks.

Alright, put a stockpot on the stove. Throw or lightly toss your Butter in there.

Once the Butter is mostly melted, throw in your diced White Onion, Celery stalks, and Carrots. Stir and add a few pinches of an Italian Herb Mix with a single pinch of Ground Black Pepper.

Let cook for about 6 minutes or until the Carrots are somewhat softened and Onions have caramelized.

Then you find the 2 Broths.

Pour them in. Stir.

Add Noodles.

Stir and then put a saucepan on a different burner with heat on medium. Put the Chicken and Dressing on in.

Make sure to keep stirring them around in the pan so they do not burn to it at all.

Now add in 1 cup of Water to the stockpot if you think the liquid level is low. I did and it turned out amazing.

Alright, once the Chicken is done cooking you strain out the excess Dressing and put the Chicken into the stockpot. Stir it in well.

Once the Carrots are soft enough it is done. For the entire recipe, I want to say this took me like 30 to 45 minutes total. I am sure if I let it cook longer it would taste a bit different, however as is it is a very rich soup. Enjoy!

Root Vegetable Soup

Due to the cooler weather this past weekend, I feel that soup season is officially upon us. The first result of that decision was the Chef's Beef Stew I posted about yesterday. This recipe is what happens when I have free time and am very hungry, so enjoy the aftermath.

Ingredients:
1 Sweet Potato
4 Parsnips
5 Russet Potatoes
2 White Onions
3 Shallots
1/2 stick of Butter
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt

I started with the Shallots and White Onions.

I diced them up decently small. I also started a pot of water boiling with a beef bullion cube in it.

Now, I used the 1/2 stick of Butter and cut into several pieces and put in a large saucepan with the heat on at MEDIUM. Which of course I then dumped the diced up Shallots and White Onions in.

Once in, stir to make sure the Butter gets mixed around with the White Onions and Shallots. I kept the heat at MEDIUM to give me enough time to dice up the rest of the ingredients needed.

So I got the Sweet Potato, Russet Potatoes, and Parsnips out. I took 2 Sweet Potatoes out at first but once I started dicing everything up I decided that only 1 was needed. Sweet Potatoes do tend to be overpowering when coupled with regular Potatoes after all.

Once those were all diced up, I added those to the saucepan. The Onions and Shallots should have caramelized by now, but if not you should wait until they do to add the root vegetables.

Now add in about 1/2 the 'freshly made' beef stock. I would say about a 1/2 cup to 1 cup's worth. I didn't measure, so it's just a rough estimate.

I stirred it up and added some spices. I added in 2 pinches of Sea Salt coupled with a light sprinkling of the Ground Black Pepper. Quantity wise, about a 2:1 ratio of Ground Black Pepper to Sea Salt. Topped it all off with almost a 1/4 cup of Italian Herb Mix. The mix it all together and add the rest of the beef stock.

Let it come to a boil and then turn the heat down to just a bit below MEDIUM.

I let it cook for about 30 minutes, or until each of the ingredients were thoroughly cooked and feel soft.

Now you take a food processor or blender (I used a blender) and proceed to puree it like you're getting paid to. Then serve. Enjoy.