Baked Whole Vidalia Onions

I had a few Vidalia onions that I needed to use, and I remembered doing some whole in the oven. I went though the cabinets and pulled together a very tasty recipe!

Baked Whole Vidalia Onion

4 large Vidalia onions
4 beef bouillon cubes
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1-2 clove garlic, minced

Kosher salt
Black pepper

Trim the top and bottom of the onions. Peel onions, leaving roots intact. Core the onion with a very small paring knife or melon baller. Place each onion on a lightly greased square of foil. Insert one bouillon cube into the core and press butter into onions. Sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper. Wrap in the foil then arrange in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake at 400 for about 1 hour.

This is basically what you need... 

 Core the onions with a small knife...

Pack with butter, garlic and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

I was out of foil, so I put them in a casserole dish with a lid.

For Stuffed Onions:

1/4 onions, chopped

1 T butter

1/2 cup homemade croutons

1/4 cup of chicken stock

salt and pepper

Parmesan Cheese, shredded

Saute onions in butter until transparent. Toss in croutons, stock and seasonings. Place stuffing inside cored whole onions and bake as directed above. Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven until melted.

I made homemade croutons... 

Saute onions in butter, add croutons, stock and seasonings. 

 Stuffed and baked...

MINE!!! Yum!

Bad Weather Food... Soups On!

Tornado and Severe Weather Warnings out today... It has been unseasonably warm, but with the bad weather comes cold rain and wind! These soups are wonderful to have on the stove staying warm until you're ready to eat.


Baked Potato Soup

3 bacon strips, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Minced fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set bacon aside. Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper; mix well. Gradually add broth. Bring to boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, cream, sour cream and hot pepper sauce; heat through but do not boil. Garnish with bacon, cheese and parsley.




Cheeseburger Soup

2 T butter

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups beef stock
1 cup milk
16 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 lb hamburger
2-3 T flour
lettuce & tomato, largely chopped

Saute the onions in butter until translucent. Add 2 cups beef stock and 1 cup milk. Add cubed Velveeta and stir until melted. Cook hamburger. Add about 2 - 3 tablespoons of flour to the hamburger. (This will make a slurry when the flour combines with the fat off of the hamburger.) Add the hamburger mixture to the soup. Bring soup up to a high simmer. If the soup is too thick, add a little more stock. When ready to serve, throw a handful of lettuce and tomato in a bowl and top with several spoonfuls of soup. Cheeseburger in a bowl!

Tuscan Soup

6 cups chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
3 (3.5 ounce) links spicy Italian sausage
3 large potatoes, cubed
1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and chopped
1/4 cup evaporated milk
salt and pepper to taste


Remove skin from sausage and crumble into frying pan. Add chopped onion, and cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Place meat in a large pot; add stock and potatoes. Boil until potato is cooked.
Add spinach. Continue boiling until spinach is lightly cooked. Remove soup from heat, stir in evaporated milk, and season to taste.


Reuben Soup
Could you get anymore twisted than Reuben Soup? This sounds so weird, but the flavor is outstanding! Unique and delicious!

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups water
4 cubes beef bouillon
8 ounces shredded corned beef
1 cup sauerkraut, drained
3 cups half-and-half cream
3 cups shredded Swiss cheese
8 slices rye bread, toasted and cut into triangles


In a large saucepan, cook onion and celery in butter until tender; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in water and bouillon, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in corned beef, sauerkraut, cream, and 1 cup of the cheese. Cook and stir for 30 minutes or until slightly thickened.
Preheat broiler. Ladle soup into 8 ovenproof bowls. Top each serving with a slice of bread and sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese on top of each slice of bread. Place in oven under broiler until the cheese melts and lightly browns.

Sunday Dinner... Pot Roast

A good pot roast with vegetables, green bean casserole, rice and gravy, sliced tomatoes and Mama's biscuits is the typical Sunday Dinner that I remember growing up. The smell takes me back to Mama's kitchen. If you add a lot more pepper to the pot roast or some fried chicken, that smell takes me to Grandmama Bradham's. The smell of cooking cabbage always takes me to Grandmama Elliott's kitchen. 

“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.” 
― Laurie Colwin

 

Sunday Pot Roast

4 pound chuck roast

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

flour

2 tbsp oil

1 packet dry onion soup mix

1 cup beef broth or water

3 carrots, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 stalk celery, chopped

Season the chuck roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder, to taste, on all sides. Dust with flour and brown in oil on all sides in a large skillet over medium to high heat. Place in the roasting pan and add the soup mix, water, carrots, onion, potatoes and celery. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 2 or 3 hours. (The longer it cooks the more tender it becomes, but don’t let all the liquid burn off)

Remove the meat and vegetables. Make gravy by adding a cornstarch slurry to the juices… 1 tbsp cornstarch to ¼ cup cold water… add to the juices and bring to a boil. 

Cornbread Dressing and Holiday Tummy Trouble?

Many of us complain about overeating during the holidays. Some of us even complain that we really didn't overindulge and still have that nagging heartburn or indigestion! I had that problem for years until I started listening to my Dad. He always complained about dressing (or stuffing) giving him heartburn/indigestion. I started investigating, and I couldn't figure out what the problem was... until I noticed that the pre-packaged mixes always have the pungent aroma of sage. My Dad always complained about sage being the culprit. We had homemade dressing and had the same result... heartburn! Come to find out, the homemade recipes called for poultry seasoning which is loaded with sage. Smell the poultry spice in your spice rack or smell the pre-packaged stuffing mix (if you use it). That strong herb smell is sage. I'm not knocking sage. It's a lovely herb to use. It's just not the friendliest to the tummy!

If you've had this trouble and never have been able to find out what the cause is, try this recipe for homemade dressing (or stuffing if you like) and see if it helps your tummy troubles.
P.S. It will not help the overindulgence problem however!

Cornbread Dressing

This is very basic. You can add or remove veggies or the eggs. You can also add 1 t poultry seasoning. I don't use it because sage causes a heartburn problem in my family, but you can add it if you like!

2 (16 ounce) pkgs Jiffy corn bread mix
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch celery, chopped
6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 cups turkey stock
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare cornbread according to directions on package. Cool and crumble.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sauté the onion and celery in 1/4 cup butter. In a large bowl, combine the crumbled corn bread, onion, garlic, celery and eggs. Gently stir. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the chicken and turkey broth 1 cup at a time until the cornbread becomes very moist but soupy. Place stuffing into a casserole dish. Bake for about 45 minutes or until stuffing sets.