Brunswick Stew

Growing up in the South I have always had a love for Brunswick Stew. The mix of barbecued chicken, pork, & beef mixed with corn, tomatoes, and lima beans just can't be beat. If you've never had Brunswick Stew from a deep south BBQ joint you are truly missing out. This recipe is my attempt to match come as close as possible to the Brunswick Stew at your favorite BBQ joint. It's easy and delicious!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 4 - 6 hours
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
1 can BBQ pork
1 can BBQ beef
2 (16 oz) packages of Lloyds BBQ (pork, chicken, or beef; use any combination you please).
1 can creamed corn
1 can white shoepeg corn
2 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cups lima beans
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Turn the heat to low and cook for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally. (Yes that is all the instructions... incredibly easy right?!?) 

Serve with corn bread and a large glass of sweet tea! And there you have it, a true southern classic!

'Til next time,
Caroline  

National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day!

Can you believe it? God's most loving food-gift to mankind was celebrated all across the world yesterday. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Surely one of life's greatest and simplest treasures.

Isn't it funny how particular we are about our pb&j's? For example, do you prefer creamy or crunchy, store-bought or organic peanut butter? And jelly. Are you grape only or do you venture out to other flavors? My personal peculiarity is the assembly of the pb&j. Crust or no crust, more peanut butter than jelly or vice versa? And don't even get me started on all the pb&j knockoffs out there.

In honor of this precious holiday, I searched for an awesome pb&j feast. In doing so I came across an article titled "55 Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipes." To my shock and awe, there was a pb&j soup. Yes!

Here is the recipe from buzzfeed.com:

2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Onion, grated
1 Stalk Celery, diced
2 Tbsp Flour
3 cups Chicken broth (try low sodium)
1/2 cup Creamy peanut butter (try reduced fat for fewer calories)
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Light cream
2 Tbsp Roasted peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup Grape jelly (can use low sugar or fruit preserves instead)

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add onion and celery and sauté for 5 minutes. Add flour and mix until well blended. Slowly stir in chicken broth and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and strain broth to remove the celery and onions. Next, stir the peanut butter, salt and cream into the strained broth until mixed well. Serve hot. Garnish each serving with a teaspoon of chopped peanuts and a dollop of your favorite jelly.

Make 4 servings.

"Till next time,
Natalie

National Grilled Cheese Month!

Photo credit: Martha Stewart

I bet you didn't know that April is "National Grilled Cheese Month!" You won't have to twist my arm twice to celebrate. Grilled Cheese sandwiches are a classic pairing to any soup from tomato to split pea. Martha Stewart has collected several variations on the basic grilled cheese. Click the link below to go directly to her recipes:

Classic Grilled Cheese

Grilled Ham and Cheese with Pears

Cheddar-Scallion Panini

Grilled Cheese with Grainy Mustard

Fresh-Fig Grilled Cheese

Grilled Cheese and Apple

Monte Cristo

Grilled Mozzarella Sandwich 

Grilled Cheese with Pulled Short Ribs

Grilled Ham and Cheese with Pineapple

Croque Monsieur

Prosciutto and Pesto Panini

'Till next time,

Matthew

Happy Easter!

 

I found this little gem for your Easter amusement. Souper Sunday hopes you enjoy a wonderful day with your friends and family. Happy egg hunting!

 

'Till next time,

Natalie



Easter Soup Traditions

Easter in the United States, particularly the south, looks pretty predictable: plastic eggs, the Easter bunny, pastel-colored outfits, candy and church. Soup is not something that I would associate with Easter and I don't imagine many of you are running out to your grocery store buying soup ingredients.

This sad soup reality posed an interesting Google search on "traditional Easter soups". I repeatedly found two soups that I thought may be of interest for you history buffs and/or you adventurous cooks.

Poland: In Poland many of the ingredients of the świéconka basket that were blessed on holy Saturday are used to make white borscht on Easter morning. The most important ingredient in this soup is the sour called zur which is made with rye flour.

Greece: Magiritsa is a Greek soup associated the Greek Orthodox Church. The most important and religiously significant ingredient in this soup is lamb. This soup is traditionally prepared on holy Saturday and eaten after midnight to break the fast.

'Till next time,
Natalie

Hearty Beef and Vegetable Soup

I found this recipe on A Family Feast's blog. Rather than being called Hearty Beef and Vegetable Soup, it should be called Everything but Your Kitchen Sink Beef and Vegetable Soup. If you haven't noticed by the list of ingredients it has almost every vegetable you can imagine. The fun part of this soup was that you can definitely get creative with the ingredients. If you don't like one vegetable then leave it out. If you prefer kale instead of spinach, then substitute it or add it to the recipe. The wine gave the broth a deeper flavor but if your taste buds dislike wine (I can't imagine why they would) then just leave it out and add more V-8 juice and beef stock. You can really make it your own which I loved. It was delicious and definitely hearty. It made for great leftovers and would freeze pretty well. 

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Serves: 12-14 servings

Ingredients:

2 Tbls. olive oil

1 lb. chuck beef, cut into small pieces

1 cup onions, diced

1/2 cup celery, died

1 cup carrots, diced

1/2 cup leeks, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

12 oz V-8 juice

1/2 cup red wine

2 quarts beef stock

2 cups water

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatos

1 cup cabbage, chopped

1 white turnip, diced

1/2 cup green beans, roughly chopped

3 oz baby spinach

1 (11 oz) can corn, drained

1 (14 oz) can white beans, drained & rinsed

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

Place beef in oil and sear on all sides. Be sure not to crowd the pot so cook the beef in batches. 

Add onion, celery, carrots, and leeks and saute fore 5 minutes or until the vegetables are slightly tender.

Add garlic and cook an additional minute.

Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the dried thyme.

Add the V-8 juice and red wine to deglaze the pot. Cook for one more minute while scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. 

Add the beef stock and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes.

Stir in the green beans and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

Stir i the cabbage, turnip, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes, spinach, corn, and white beans and bring back to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes or until the potato is cooked. 

Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.

I hope you enjoy this hearty beef and vegetable soup!

'Till next time,

Caroline 

Southwestern Turkey Sandwich

Recently I have been under the weather with some bug that has been going around. With that, there is nothing like a good soup and sandwich to get you back on track. I decided to make a Southwestern Turkey Sandwich and paired it with a traditional chicken noodle soup - partly cause that's all I had in the pantry, and secondly who doesn't like chicken noodle soup when you're sick?

Ingredients:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup salsa
Turkey
Pepper jack cheese
Bread

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Place bread onto skillet and add one slice of pepper jack cheese. Mix the mayonnaise and salsa. Add turkey and sauce mixture. Grill until lightly browned and flip over; continue grilling until cheese is melted. 

'Till next time,
Matthew