Thursday, April 15, 2010

Olive Garden Take-out


Or is it??

The Zuppa Toscana soup from the Olive Garden is one of my favorite things to eat. Ever. It's creamy, spicy, and has the most delicious broth that is fantastic soaked up in some of that garlic bread.

So when I came across a copy cat recipe on allrecipes.com I knew I had to try it!

The recipe had some ingredients that I knew were not in the original soup, so i adjusted it for my tastes and memory of the original. And it was just as good (if not better) than the one they serve with the endless salad and breadsticks.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

Zuppa Toscana
1 lb. spicy italian bulk sausage
2 1/2 cups kale, washed and shredded
5 potatoes (yukon gold or red), peeled and sliced
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
8 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

brown sausage in a large pot and add onion and garlic when it's finished. When onions are a little soft (5 minutes), add the chicken broth, potatoes, and bacon. Simmer for 45 minutes or so. When the potatoes are cooked, add the cream and kale and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Isn't is amazing that something so easy to make is so stinking delicious?? It blows my mind!!
soak chunks of break and serve with salad.

You may tip the cook.




Friday, April 2, 2010

Stew


I pulled some stew meat out of the freezer to thaw knowing full well that my husband does not like stew. The entire 6+ years we've been married I've made it one time. So I chose to make it myself instead of using one of those packet mixes(like I did last time). Here's what I did:

I dredged my one pound of stew meat in a flour mixture with 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp pepper. Shake off the extra flour and throw it into a heavy bottomed pot with veggie oil. once it's browned, add 4 cups of beef stock, 1/2 tsp. pepper, 1 bay leaf and simmer for one hour.

then add:
4-5 chopped potatoes (red or yukon gold, NOT russet)
4 sliced carrots
1 diced onion
2 stacks celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, diced.
1 tbsp worcestershire
1 tbsp A1
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp rosemary leaves

simmer for one hour.

taste for salt, adjust to taste.

serve with crusty rolls and take a nap.

I loved this. Super simple but the broth was delish.

you can add cornstarch/water mixture if you want it thicker.

YUM.