This is a family favorite. I make it a lot in the winter time and serve it with a salad and some good bread. The soup is savory, filling and unique. Enjoy!

Makes: 6-8 servings
INGREDIENTS

1 lb Italian sausage, baked and sliced
1-2 cloves minced garlic (to taste)
1 large diced white onion
1/2 pound of bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tsp garlic puree
10 cups water
4-5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
3-4 Large russet potatoes, washed well and sliced but not peeled
1 C. finely chopped Kale

Using a little bacon grease, saute bacon, onions and garlic in large stock pot until onions are transparent and soft.  Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling. Add sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour. Add baked and sliced sausage and bring to boil again. Turn heat down immediately and add heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated. Add kale just before serving.

Farm Bureau on line

Picture by Claire
Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons gelatin
½ cup milk
2½ cups heavy cream
6 Tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla
Sliced mixed berries

Procedure:

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the milk and let stand for 5 minutes.

In a saucepan over medium heat

, combine the cream and sugar. Cook, stirring to dissolve the sugar, until small bubbles appear around the outside of the pan. Slowly add the cream mixture to the gelatin mixture. Stir until smooth. Whisk in vanilla.

Spray 8 ramekins with cooking spray. Divide the mixture evenly among ramekins. Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.

Fill a small bowl with very warm water. Dip the bottom of the ramekins in the water for about 10 seconds. Run a knife around edges of custard to loosen. Invert onto dessert plates. Spoon berries around the panna cotta and serve immediately.

This is the simply the best chicken salad I have ever had. I have made it for Church suppers in the summer and it is always completely consumed! Also it is diet friendly! I got this recipe out of a Southern Living insert one year. I can’t even remember which edition it was. As you can see in the pictures below it is a very pretty and colorful salad as well.

Blueberry Chicken Salad
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced sweet red pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 carton (6 oz.) lemon yogurt (I had a hard time finding plain lemon yogurt, but I used various lemon flavors successfully)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise (I used low fat sour cream instead)
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Set aside a few blueberries for garnish. In a large bowl, gently combine the chicken, celery, red pepper, onions and remaining blueberries. Combine the yogurt, mayonnaise and salt; drizzle over chicken mixture and gently toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Serve on lettuce-lined plates if desired. Top with reserved blueberries. This is really good served with croissants. Yield: 4 servings.

I am reposting this recipe with a variation I did tonight as well as some photos. I am also including some photos of how to wrap an egg roll.

The variations I made were simple. I left the dipping sauce exactly as is. It is wonderful and tasty! What I changed was the stuff inside the rolls. I left out the dried tomatoes and put in fresh Roma tomatoes, I added crispy cooked bacon to the avocado and I left out the cilantro (but that was by mistake!). It was very tasty to say the least and it added some protein. I made fried rice to go with it. Scroll to the bottom to see the pics.

The recipe below was given to me by a friend who wanted these for her birthday one year. I made them and fell in love with them immediately. She says that they are a good knock-off from the Cheesecake Factory avocado egg rolls. I can not personally attest to that since I have never had anything from a Cheesecake Factory (Hey, I live in a po-dunk town in TN! ) Tamarind was the hardest ingredient for me to find. I did find it at a little Indian Food Store here in town. I don’t know if the sauce can do without it or not… but if you can’t find the tamarind maybe try some pureed prune in its stead.

Avocado Egg Rolls
Prep. Time: 0:30
Serves: 2-4

1 T. white vinegar
1 t.. balsamic vinegar
1/2 t. tamarind pulp
1/2 cup honey
1 pinch ground saffron (best saffron I ever found was at the same Indian Food Store!)
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
2 green onions
1 T. granulated sugar
1 t. ground black pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lrg. avocado - peeled, pitted, diced
2 T. sun-dried tomatoes in oil - chopped
1 T. minced red onion
1/2 t. chopped fresh cilantro
1 pinch salt
egg roll wrappers
1 egg - beaten

In small saucepan, over medium heat, stir together first 5 ingredients. Heat until tamarind is fully dissolved and mixture is well blended. Do not boil or over cook and stir constantly

Puree tamarind mixture, cashews, 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, and cumin in a blender or food processor.

Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in oil; refrigerate until ready to use (this can be made a day or two ahead of time… actually making it at least a day in advance gives the flavors time to blend and it has a better flavor.)

Gently fold together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 tsp. cilantro, and salt until well coated and blended.

Distribute filling evenly onto center of egg roll wrappers — should make around 4 or more depending on how full you make them.

Position a wrapper so that a corner is pointing toward you; fold the bottom corner up, 1/4 of the way over the filling; brush remaining corners and edges of the wrapper with egg; roll up from side to side; fold top corner over all and press to seal; repeat with remaining wrappers.

Deep-fry egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown.

Drain on brown paper bags.

Slice egg rolls diagonally across middle and serve with prepared dipping sauce.

I have been searching for a nice variation to my lasagna recipe. Right now I make a pretty traditional lasagna, and my only fast and hard rule I have for any lasagna is that I use real Ricotta cheese — NO substitutes. Cottage Cheese may do in a pinch, but it is no match for Ricotta in consistency and in taste. The recipe below is one I found on Allrecipes. I modified it by taking out some chicken livers that go into the Ragu. I am an anti-liver cook and consumer. I know too much about the liver’s functions to feel good about consuming it. If you would like to have the recipe with the liver added you can find at THIS LINK. Bon Apetite!

PASTA

RAGU

BECHAMEL