Tag: onions

Categories
Main Dish Soup

This creamy chicken soup was fabulous, ‘gnocchi’dding

Chicken gnocchi soup is a creamy, Italian-style soup that features tons of flavor from fresh vegetables, lots of garlic, chicken and soft, pillowy gnocchi.
Chicken gnocchi soup is a creamy, Italian-style soup that features tons of flavor from fresh vegetables, lots of garlic, chicken and soft, pillowy gnocchi.

This past weekend, Joey found whole chickens on sale and proceeded to put three on his smoker.

I told him I wanted to try a different way to make stock from the bones, once he was done pulling the meat, and he graciously put the pieces into my large crockpot for me.

Normally, we make stock on the stove, but after seeing several people online make it in their crockpots, I wanted to give it a shot, especially since the last time we made stock, our entire kitchen felt a bit like a sauna from all the boiling liquid. That’s a less-than optimum feeling when you’re staring at May on the calendar.

So, I covered the bones in water, snapped on the lid, and let everything cook on high for four hours. Then I set it to low and went to bed.

When I tell you that I woke up to the most beautiful stock I have ever seen, please believe me. It was dark and flavorful and amazing.

I immediately knew that a soup was in order, so I decided to try a recipe I had my eye on that uses lots of fresh veggies—all of which just happened to be in my fridge.

This comes from the blog, “Tornadough Alli.” You can find the original post at https://tornadoughalli.com/olive-garden-chicken-gnocchi-soup/. I added tons more garlic and some other seasoning in my version.

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Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken gnocchi soup is a creamy, Italian-style soup that features tons of flavor from fresh vegetables, lots of garlic, chicken and soft, pillowy gnocchi.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Italian
Keyword black pepper, carrots, celery, chicken, chicken broth, chicken stock, creamy soup, garlic salt, gnocchi, minced garlic, onion, parsley, spinach

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 3 to 4 medium carrots diced
  • 2 stalks celery diced
  • 16- ounce package potato gnocchi
  • 6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3 teaspoons dried parsley
  • garlic salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 pound chicken cooked and shredded
  • 1 cup fresh spinach chopped
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

  • In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat.
  • Once the butter is melted, add the onion, carrots and celery, and saute until the onions are translucent.
  • While your veggies cook, boil the gnocchi according to package instructions, drain it, and set it aside.
  • When the vegetables are cooked through, add in the garlic and saute for just a couple of minutes.
  • Stir in the flour, and let it cook for about a minute before adding the chicken broth and milk to the pot, stirring well. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to get any stuck-on goodies mixed in.
  • Raise the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring regularly. Once it reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low to keep it at a simmer, and add in the seasonings, chicken, spinach, gnocchi and corn starch mixture. Stir well, and keep stirring occasionally until all the ingredients are heated through and the soup is just slightly thickened.
  • Serve.

This was creamy and flavorful and had lots of great textures between the chicken, gnocchi and vegetables. It also made a nice, big pot of soup, so we were able to put some leftovers in the freezer for another night.

And the best part is I still have eight cups of stock in my refrigerator, ready to go into another creation. After seeing how well my crockpot worked out, I’m not sure if I’ll make stock the old way ever again.

This piece first appeared in print on May 4, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish Pressure Cooker

Cheesy pasta is just the thing to ‘Philly’ you up

Philly cheesesteak pasta doesn't taste exactly like the sandwich, but it's a good homage to the original and full of lots of cheesy goodness.
Philly cheesesteak pasta doesn’t taste exactly like the sandwich, but it’s a good homage to the original and full of lots of cheesy goodness.

One of the spots Joey and I chose to visit for our honeymoon over a decade ago was Philadelphia, Pa. 

As one must when visiting Philadelphia, we tried Philly cheesesteaks at several restaurants around the city.

True die-hards will be sad to know that I was not brave enough to try any of my sandwiches with Cheez Whiz and opted for provolone instead, but they were absolutely delicious, and I have been chasing those flavors since that trip. That’s why I decided to try a pressure cooker casserole that promised the same taste as a Philly cheesesteak this week.

Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver in that realm, but what it did give me was a delicious, quick and easy dinner that I would definitely eat again.

This recipe comes from the blog “Taste and See.” You can find the original post at https://tasteandsee.com/instant-pot-philly-cheesesteak-pasta/. I changed up the amounts of some ingredients in this and clarified some directions in my version below. I will also note that this recipe is written for use with a pressure cooker, but you can easily make this by sauteing the meat and veggies in a large skillet, boiling the pasta normally, and then adding the ingredients together in the skillet. I would just leave out the beef broth.

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Pressure Cooker Philly Cheesesteak Pasta

Philly cheesesteak pasta doesn't taste exactly like the sandwich, but it's a good homage to the original and full of lots of cheesy goodness.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword basil, bell pepper, garlic, onions, oregano, parsley, Philly cheesesteak, pressure cooker, provolone

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion diced
  • 1 large green bell pepper diced
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon basil
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 4 tablespoons Worcestershire
  • 4 cups beef stock
  • 1 3/4 cups dry macaroni pasta
  • 12 ounces provolone cheese cut into small pieces

Instructions

  • In the pressure cooker, heat the oil on the saute function (medium heat). Add the onions and green peppers, stirring regularly, until they begin to soften.
  • Add the ground beef and saute, breaking it apart as you do. Once the meat is cooked through, drain off any excess fat.
  • Add the salt, pepper, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire and beef stock, and stir, making sure to scrape the bottom of the crock to get any cooked-on bits.
  • Once everything is well combined, add the pasta to the pressure cooker, and stir again to submerge the noodles.
  • Seal the pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. Manually release the pressure, add the cheese and stir until it is melted and well combined.
  • Serve hot.

As I said, this certainly doesn’t taste exactly like a cheesesteak—probably because it’s missing the actual steak component—but it was super yummy. There was tons of cheese and lots of flavor from the onions and peppers.

It reheated really well for leftovers, too.

I’ll have to keep hunting for my white whale and probably learn to just make the traditional cheesesteaks in my kitchen instead of hoping for a casserole to fulfill my cravings. Regardless, I think I’ll stick to the provolone. It may take another decade until I’m ready for the Cheez Whiz.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 14, 2021.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

This will make you come around to a new cut of steak

Onion and pepper smothered round steak has tons of herbs and spices that create a rich sauce to be served over noodles or rice.
Onion and pepper smothered round steak has tons of herbs and spices that create a rich sauce to be served over noodles or rice.

A few months ago, we bought a meat bundle from our local butcher, and since we’ve been stuck at home, it’s been nice to enjoy.

We’ve made roasts and steaks and dinners with ground beef, but I still had a few packages of tenderized round steak that I decided I needed to be creative with—mostly because I haven’t worked with that cut very often over the years.

I know round steak is perfect for chicken fried steaks, but I decided I wanted to try something different and stumbled upon a recipe from Emeril Lagasse that a blogger posted to her site. It sounded awesome, so while Joey and I listened to an audio book, I chopped and sauteed my way to a great dinner.

I will warn you that this has a good amount of heat to it, so if you’re not a fan of spicy dishes, I’d suggest leaving the cayenne out of this one.

This is from the blog “Butter Yum.” You can find the original post at https://www.butteryum.org/blog/2014/03/emerils-onion-and-pepper-smothered.html. I didn’t change much but upping the herbs and spices just a little bit. 

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Onion and Pepper Smothered Round Steak

Onion and pepper smothered round steak has tons of herbs and spices that create a rich sauce to be served over noodles or rice.
Course Main Course
Keyword beef, bell pepper, onions, pasta, rice, round steak

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 3 teaspoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 rounded teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 rounded teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 rounded teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 rounded teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 1/2 pounds round steak sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
  • 1/4 cup oil vegetable or canola
  • 3 cups chicken broth or stock
  • 1 medium-sized yellow onion sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
  • 3 large bell peppers any color, , sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
  • 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • more salt and pepper to taste
  • cooked rice or buttered pasta for serving

Instructions

  • Combine the flour, paprika, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, and thyme and add it along with the sliced steak to a large bowl. Stir it coat the steak in the flour mixture.
  • In a large, deep pan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the steak in batches, sauteing for about two or three minutes on each side and then transferring the cooked steak to a separate plate.
  • Once all the steak is cooked through, add the rest of the flour mixture to the pot, along with the chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to get any stuck on bits mixed in, and bring the pot up to a boil.
  • Now add the onions and bell peppers, stirring frequently, and let them cook for about eight minutes.
  • Turn the heat down to low and add the steak and any juices from the plate back into the pot.
  • Let the mixture simmer for about one hour, stirring regularly. If the liquid level gets too low, add a little water. If, by the time your hour is up, you still have a lot of liquid, whisk in some flour to thicken it up a bit. Your end goal is to have a gravy consistency.
  • Once the vegetables are cooked through and the sauce is done, add the Worcestershire sauce and more salt and pepper, if necessary.
  • Serve it over rice or buttered pasta.

Joey and I were both pretty skeptical about this, just because we’ve never had a dish like this one before, but boy, was it delicious.

It made more than enough for us to put plenty of leftovers into the fridge, too, which was nice. We opted for some spaghetti noodles under our round steak, and the recipe author also suggests rice, but I also think mashed potatoes would be good.

And I’m super excited that I have another great way to use round steak going forward, although I don’t think I’ll be giving up chicken fried steak any time soon. It’s pretty tough to give up those old classics.

This piece first appeared in print on April 30, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Crockpot Main Dish

Parsnips can help keep your pot roast rooted

At the start of the stay-at-home order, Joey and I made our normal trip to the grocery store, planning to get ingredients for some meals that would yield plenty of leftovers for our freezer and keep us out of the public for a couple weeks.

We already had a roast in the freezer, so we were on the hunt for ingredients to put with it in the crockpot for a good, old-fashioned crockpot.

Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones who made a trip to our local grocery store that day, and we found ourselves staring at a lot of empty shelves, especially in the produce section.

I was surprised to see there wasn’t a single potato to be had, and while I’d normally add carrots to my roast, there was only a tiny package of shredded carrots left, and I didn’t think that would do.

We weren’t sure how to pivot until Joey began examining the shelves for what was still available and wondered aloud what we could substitute for potatoes or carrots in our recipe.

A quick Google search yielded the solution: parsnips.

I’ve never cooked with parsnips before, but there they were, on the shelf, in abundance, so we bought a big bag and decided to see what would happen.

So, this week, I’m sharing with you how we normally put together a pot roast and highly recommending that you give parsnips a try.

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Pot Roast with Parsnips

Pot roast is a versatile dinner. This roast was made using parsnips instead of potatoes and carrots due to quarantine shortages.
Course Main Course
Keyword beef, carrots, crockpot, mashed potatoes, onions, parsnips, pot roast

Ingredients

  • Chuck roast we normally get a 3- to 5-pound roast, thawed
  • 4 to 5 stalks celery cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 small yellow onion cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 4 to 5 carrots cut into 1/2-inch rounds
  • 2 pounds potatoes or parsnips cut into 1-inch pieces
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 3-4 cups beef broth or a medium to dark style of beer

Instructions

  • While you prepare your vegetables, pull the roast from the refrigerator to get it closer to room temperature.
  • Start with adding the roast to the center of your crockpot and then sprinkle in the vegetables, herbs and spices around it. Pour over the broth and Worcestershire sauce and place the lid on the crockpot. You don’t need to have the broth all the way to the rim or completely covering the roast, but I’d recommend having it at least three-quarters of the way up the meat and veggies.
  • Cook on low for six to eight hours or on high for about three to five hours. (The cook time will really depend on how big your roast is, but that’s pretty standard.)
  • For proper doneness, a pot roast should be at least 145 degrees in the thickest part.
  • Check the doneness of the vegetables by piercing them with a fork. If they’re done to your liking, serve the roast by slicing it and then spooning lots of vegetables with it. We like to eat ours in a bowl so we can serve it with some of the juices from the crockpot.
  • Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Make sure you include juice in the containers, too. It will help it stay moist when you reheat it.

If you’re curious, a parsnip tastes a bit like a carrot but with a bit more of an earthy, nutty flavor. We didn’t miss the carrots or potatoes too much with the addition of the extra flavor.

There are probably a million ways people make pot roast. I have a friend who uses French onion soup mix, water and frozen, mixed vegetables in hers.

A lot of folks also like to thicken up the juices to make gravy and serve the roast over top of mashed potatoes.

The best part is that it’s a flexible dinner to make, and as we discovered, despite potatoes generally being considered a staple with pot roast, you can even get away with leaving those out, too.

Our local store is certainly returning to normal for the most part, but if nothing else, I suppose this quarantine has taught me how to be flexible—both in life and in the kitchen.

This piece first appeared in print on April 23, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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