Dutch Oven and Salamander dreams

All the holiday cooking made me realize that I have one item in my kitchen I could not live without, that is my Dutch Oven by Le Creuset . It is quite large and easy to braise meats, create wonderful soups and roasted chicken to die for. I use this so much I bought another one for smaller creations. As I look around my kitchen I have a lot of gadgets and spatulas. Though funny, to my surprise I always found myself using my Wusthof Chef knife, Wusthof Santoku knife and my wooden spoon. Everything else is displayed beautifully but not really touched.

As you all know we cook a lot on the grill and smoker, one of the things I would love to have is a Salamander broiler by BlueStar. Being an avid griller this is a dream item, can you imagine the crispy chicken, beautiful grouper or even crab cakes! Wow I am making myself hungry. So this is going on my wish list. I hope my husband see's it.

+Authored by Shawna Williams

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French Onion Soup

I made a beef roast the other day and had a lot of the broth left over.  I decided to make French Onion Soup, since it is my daughters favorite. Lucky her!!! It happens to be one of the easiest soups to make when you have the broth already done.

French Onion Soup
4 cups - Beef Broth
2 - Large Sweet Onions
1/2 stick - Butter
1 tsp. - Italian seasoning
2 cloves - Garlic, minced
French bread or Baguette, 2" slices
8 slices - Provolone cheese or Gruyere cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Toast french bread slices till slightly brown.
Saute onions in butter till soft, add italian seasoning and garlic simmer for another 3-5 minutes. Then add.beef broth and simmer for 25 minutes. In 8 individual cups add hot beef broth, top with a slice of french bread then add the slice of cheese. Place in oven and bake about 8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Authored by +Shawna Williams

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Broccoli Cheese Soup

Over the last few months I have been tending to my garden all the while every one else is snowed in. This time of year is perfect in Florida for growing some of the best produce. I have about 10 heads of broccoli in the refrigerator and needed to do something with them besides steam it, that was getting a little boring. When the last of my family finally headed back to Iowa they left behind numerous amounts of cheeses and I thought of a broccoli soup. So I literally took out all the cheese and used it. The soup had such great flavor. As you can see by the recipe, they left behind heavy cream and half and half those ingredients made it even better.

Potato Soup

I know it doesn't get that cold down here in Florida, but there still is a need for a hearty soup in the winter. The days are shorter and the nights are cooler giving us that since of our own version of winter. My daughter came home from South Carolina and said she had the best potato soup ever. Oh Oh .... she did not just say that! I said well Missy I guess you have forgotten about my potato soup. Challenge accepted, but this time she was going to help me. She Said she wanted to learn how to cook. Wow! When I finally picked myself up off the floor we preceded  and had a lot of fun. She loved cooking the recipe, but not the peeling of potatoes so much, lol. She told me it was as good as the soup they had up in South Carolina. I will take it!

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New England Clam Chowder

Last year my daughter and husband sat in front of the Christmas tree talking about the good old days when they had New England Clam Chowder every Christmas Eve. It was a huge hint that obviously I hadn't made any yet. I looked at them and went OMG I forgot! So this year I made it ahead of time and we barely had any left for Christmas Eve. It's pretty bad when your family argues and claims the last bit and dares any one to touch it. This is a recipe that oozes with flavor and will be enjoyed by everyone.

Cowboy Chili

I haven't cooked a steak chili in years, but it has always been my favorite so I set off to recreate my recipe. Why? Because I am the kind of cook that never writes down her recipes and puts them together as I go. I know a lot of you do the same thing.
My chili has to be spicy and full of meat. I like a chili that's flavors and spices are layered throughout each bite. This chili is packed with the smokiness of the roasted peppers and the tenderness of the chuck roast.
This time I wrote the recipe down and am sharing it with you. I hope you all try it.
Come on, grab a spoon and dig in!

Three Bean Pork Chili with Adobo Sauce

Needing a change from white bean soups, but did not want to go back to the traditional chili’s.  I decided to create a Pork and Bean Chili. The Adobo sauce brings a smoky change that I was looking for.

This soup brings a little heat and comfort to the table. Enjoy.