Gaines Family Chili

Last month I was craving chili and found this very simple recipe (a printable version is here). The only thing you need to chop is one onion, so this is the perfect weeknight recipe since it comes together so quickly. All of the flavor comes from the canned tomatoes and beans which are already seasoned. Two 26-ounce cans of beans sounded like a lot to me, so I used two 15-ounce cans instead and I thought that was perfect. I had never seen or heard of Ranch Style Beans before but luckily our commissary had them. I used mild Rotel but if you like more heat, use original or hot. I did not use Fritos but I left it in the recipe.

I was skeptical about this recipe but I was surprised at how good it was. I'm so used to making a big recipe of chili that uses ground beef and ground pork and requires chopping peppers, onions and garlic and using various spices and then having it cook for several hours. This recipe only takes about 45 minutes. I made cornbread to go with it (and spaghetti because I love spaghetti with chili) and this was the perfect fall dinner.

If you are new to cooking or running low on time, this is the recipe to make!

Gaines Family Chili

Recipe from Magnolia Table, Volume 1 Cookbook

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large white onion, finely chopped

2 pounds ground beef (80% lean)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Two 10-ounce cans mild diced tomatoes and green chiles, such as Ro*tel, undrained

Two 26-ounce or 15-ounce cans Southwestern-style beans, preferably Ranch Style brand, undrained

One 10.25-ounce bag Fritos

2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and sauté until translucent and tender, about 8 minutes.

 

Add the beef and a couple of pinches each of salt and pepper and cook, stirring often to break up the meat, until it loses its pink color, 6 to 7 minutes.

 

Stir in the tomatoes and beans with their juice. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

 

Ladle the chili into bowls. Serve topped with Fritos and grated Cheddar and accompanied by cornbread.

 

Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

 

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Zuppa Toscana

I recently came across this soup recipe and made it tonight - it was so good! I don't think I have ever put potatoes in soup before (I always add pasta), but this was delicious and is the perfect recipe for anyone who is gluten-free. Apparently this soup is served at Olive Garden, which I do not go to so I've never had it. There are many copycat recipes out there and most have bacon and kale in them. This recipe is very straightforward and easy and I much prefer spinach over kale. Sadly I can't have heavy cream but I found a dairy-free alternative that I used, which worked well. It would have tasted just fine without it though (if you leave it out, replace it with a bit more broth). I really love the addition of flour which makes the broth thicker than most soup recipes. I did find that it needed more salt and pepper so I increased those amounts below, and I still added more of both at the end of cooking. Otherwise I followed the recipe and wouldn't change a thing next time.

This recipe did not make that much but it was enough for my use tonight, so depending on how many people you are cooking for you might need to double or even triple the recipe. My husband wasn't home but I had 2 bowls of it, one of my sons had a very small bowl of it and I gave the rest to a friend who isn't feeling well. I also made bread this morning and dipping the toasted crusty bread in this soup was amazing.

This is a great fall and winter recipe that I'll be making again very soon (and I'll try to get a more appetizing photo than the one I quickly took below)!

Zuppa Toscana

Recipe from Once Upon a Chef Blog

 

Make delicious Zuppa Toscana at home with this easy recipe! It’s filled with sausage, potatoes, and spinach in a creamy broth that feels like a satisfying meal on its own. 

 

1 pound Italian sausage (mild or spicy, depending on your preference), removed from casings

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups chicken broth

1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, diced into ½-inch pieces

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional, for more heat)

2 cups baby spinach, stems removed, packed

½ cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving

 

In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up into small pieces as it browns, 5 to 7 minutes. Once browned, use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a colander in the sink to drain, leaving about 1 tablespoon of the drippings in the pot for sautéing the vegetables.

 

Add the diced onion and carrots to the reserved drippings (if the pot seems dry, add a bit of oil). Sauté over medium heat until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Do not brown. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir until fully incorporated, about 1 minute.

 

Gradually pour in the chicken broth, and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the potatoes, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes (if using). Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer. Stir occasionally to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

 

While the soup simmers, transfer the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate. With more paper towels, blot the sausage to absorb any excess grease.

 

Add the baby spinach and cooked sausage to the soup. Simmer until the spinach is wilted, a few minutes. Stir in the cream and cheese and continue to simmer until everything is warmed through. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning if needed. Serve hot, passing more cheese at the table.

 

Serves 4.

 

Notes:

Make-Ahead Instructions: You can prepare the soup up to 2 days in advance. After cooking, let it cool to room temperature, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, reheat the soup gently over low heat, stirring occasionally, until warmed through. You may need to add a splash of broth or water if the soup has thickened too much.

 

Freezing is not recommended.

 

This soup is endlessly adaptable, so don’t be afraid to play around with ingredients depending on what you’ve got on hand. A few ideas:

·       Swap the sausage: Use turkey or chicken sausage in place of pork.

·       Toss in extra veggies: Diced bell peppers or mushrooms would be great; just sauté them first. If you want to swap out the spinach, kale or Swiss chard would work well. (Because they’re both sturdier than spinach, add them a little earlier so they can soften up.)

·       Add beans for heartiness: White beans (like cannellini or great northern) give the soup one more layer of texture and add a creamy bite.

Focaccia

A while ago I tried this Focaccia recipe that I saw on Meghan Markle's Netflix series called With Love, Meghan. I've never paid any attention to her but I like cooking shows and this recipe looked so simple that I decided to try it. The other focaccia recipes I usually make take longer and are much bigger recipes so I end up freezing half of it. This is a better size for my small family and comes together easily for a weeknight meal.

This recipe is super simple to make and doesn't take very long at all. I bake it in my 12" Le Creuset skillet. The first time I made this, I had a very tough time getting it out of the skillet, so now I line the skillet with parchment paper which makes it much easier. I top it with flaky sea salt and bake it for 20 minutes. It is really good and easy! If you've ever wanted to make homemade bread but were intimidated by it, this is a great first recipe to try.

Focaccia

Recipe from With Love, Meghan

2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling/coating the pan as well as the focaccia
1 teaspoon instant yeast or 1¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit)
1-3 sprigs of rosemary leaves
Flaky sea salt, to taste

 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the water, yeast, flour, and olive oil until a shaggy dough forms.

 

Add the salt and mix until the dough comes together. It will be sticky.

 

Coat the top of the dough with a thin layer of olive oil and cover with a tea towel.

 

Place dough in a warm place and let rise for 2 hours.

 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Once the dough has risen, turn it out into a well-oiled (or parchment paper lined and oiled) enameled cast-iron braiser, skillet or baking pan.

 

Gently stretch the dough to the edges of what you are baking it in. Be gentle and patient at this step. It may take a few tries to get the dough to that shape.

 

Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and put in a warm place to let rise in the pan for another 30 minutes.

 

Once dough is ready, coat your hands in olive oil and gently dimple the top of the dough to create small wells with your fingers.

 

Drizzle generously with more olive oil, rosemary, and flaky sea salt.

 

Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden.

 

Remove from the oven and carefully from the pan.

 

Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Cowboy Cookies

When I was looking up the Silo Cookies recipe, I came across a few comments from people saying it reminded them of Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies, which remind me of Ranger Cookies that my Aunt Barbara's mother used to make. Cowboy Cookies have rolled oats and cinnamon and Ranger cookies have Wheaties. I don't like buying a box of Wheaties just to make the cookies since you only need 2 cups, and then the rest of it goes to waste in my house. I'm much more likely to have rolled oats on hand, so I wanted to give these a try.

The original recipe makes a lot of cookies, so I only made a half recipe. In order to do this, I had to split 3 eggs to get 1.5 eggs. I took 2 eggs, beat them together and then removed 2 Tablespoons. You could also weigh an egg and split it according to weight.

Like the Silo cookie recipe, I mixed the chocolate chips, rolled oats, coconut and pecans together in a bowl first before adding them all to the cookie batter, to ensure they were mixed in well.

I used my large cookie scoop (that I usually use for muffin batter) and got 25 cookies out of this recipe. I put 8 on a cookie sheet at a time to give them room to spread since they are big cookies. This dough does not say it needs refrigerated, but while the first tray was in the oven, I put the other 2 trays in the fridge until it was time to bake them. If you have the time, I suggest letting each tray chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking, as it helps prevent the batter from spreading like it did on the first tray that I did not refrigerate.

I baked them for 15 minutes, until they were a little brown around the edges but still looked undercooked on top. I took them out of the oven and then let them sit in the pans for about 10 minutes before touching them. They finished baking that way and then looked perfect! These cookies were really good and I'm glad I gave them a try.

Cowboy Cookies

Adapted from the Washington Post's version of Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookie Recipe

 

This recipe is a half recipe of the original, which calls for 3 eggs. To get half of 3 eggs, you can either just use only one egg, or beat two eggs and remove about 2 tablespoons.

The bigger the cookie, the more chewy it can be. So if you like chewy cookies, make them big.  If you want a chewy cookie, cook them until the edges are browned, but not the whole cookie. If you cook the cookie until it is all nicely browned, it will be more crisp.

 

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (6 ounces) butter, at room temperature

¾ cup white sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1½ large eggs, beaten (See Recipe Note)

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut (we used shredded)

1 cup chopped pecans

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F: Place racks in upper and lower third of oven. Line two large baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.

 

Whisk the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

 

Make the cookie dough: Place butter in a standing electric mixer and beat on medium speed until smooth and light, about 1 minute. Slowly add in the white sugar and brown sugar, and beat to combine, about 2 more minutes. Add half the eggs, beat, and then add the other half and beat again. Add the vanilla extract and beat again. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture, until just combined. Add the chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and pecans, mixing until just combined.

 

Scoop out the cookies: If you want large cookies, drop about ¼ cup lumps of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, separated by 3 inches to allow for enough room for the cookies to spread as they cook. For smaller cookies, use about 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough per cookie.

 

Bake the cookies: Bake at 350°F for 14 to 18 minutes for large cookies, or 13 to 16 minutes for small cookies. Rotate the pan halfway through baking, front to bake and top to bottom.

 

Simple Tip! If you are using a dark baking sheet, it will absorb more heat, and you won't need as much baking time. Also, the top rack will bake more quickly because heat rises.

 

Cool the cookies: Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Then remove the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

 

You'll likely need to work in batches, depending on the size of your oven and your baking sheets.

 

Yield: 25-36 cookies.

Credit: White House Archives

Silo Cookies

I recently saw a reel on the Magnolia Network Instagram page about Silo Cookies. I've been wanting to make them and finally did today. I followed the recipe exactly, other than using a 1.5-ounce cookie scoop since that's the biggest size I have (it was plenty big - I usually use it for muffin batter). The recipe says this makes 18 cookies but I got 28 cookies out of 1 recipe, and they took a few minutes longer to bake (15-16 minutes or so).

Note that the cookies need to be refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before baking. I originally put 12 cookies on each baking sheet, but then realized how much they might spread, so I ended up baking only 8 on a cookie sheet at a time, which worked well.

These cookies were really good and I love that they have so many different things in them. Even my picky eater who usually only likes chocolate chips in his cookies loved them! The only things I might try different next time is using Crisco in place of butter (like I do when I make chocolate chip cookies), or using half Crisco and half butter, and maybe increasing the walnuts to 1 cup.

Silo Cookies

Recipe courtesy Joanna Gaines

 

“The credit for this recipe really belongs to Chip and the kids. They each have a different favorite cookie, so one day, I dumped in everyone's must-have ingredient: nuts for Chip, peanut butter for the girls, and chocolate for the boys. It was a complete win across the board. So it became our family's signature cookie, and the first item on the menu when we opened Silos Baking Co.”—Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Table, Volume 2

 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 cup packed light brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1½ cups rolled oats

1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

1½ cups peanut butter chips

½ cup chopped walnuts

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

 

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add the eggs one at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat until well incorporated. 

 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add the flour mixture to the mixer and beat until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low, add the oats, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and walnuts and beat until incorporated, 15 to 20 seconds.

 

Using a 2-ounce cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto one of the prepared baking sheets, placing the scoops side by side. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 

 

Baking in batches, and leaving the dough balls in the refrigerator until needed, set the dough balls 3 inches apart on the second prepared baking sheet and bake until browned, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining cookies. 

 

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

 

Yield: 18-28 cookies.

Waffles

Tonight I tried a different waffle recipe than the one my husband recently made. The two recipes are very similar with slightly different ingredient amounts. The only thing I changed is that I used 2 tablespoons of sugar instead of 1/4 cup, since we were eating these for dinner. I paired them with Kerrygold butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit and bacon and everyone loved them!

I weighed my flour instead of measuring it, so I left the grams measurements in this recipe. You can use either butter or oil (I recommend light olive oil over vegetable oil) in this recipe, or half of each. Using oil instead of butter will make the waffles more crispy. I used butter and they were delicious, but I will definitely experiment with the other two ways and see what we like best. It's also recommended to heat up the milk a little bit to room temperature because cold milk and melted butter don't mix well - the butter will solidify and clump up.

This made 6 waffles, which was just enough for my family of 4. The only other thing I will do differently next time is make a double recipe so we can freeze some.

Tip: Do not use sprays like Pam on your waffle maker! They make a mess and they cause more harm to the appliance than good. They leave a sticky residue that is very difficult to get off. Instead, don't use anything at all - the nonstick waffle maker shouldn't need anything other than the oil or butter that is already in the batter.

Waffles

Recipe courtesy “Preppy Kitchen” Blog

 

Try the best waffle recipe ever! Throw the no-fuss batter together in mere minutes, and then load up your perfectly crisp, tender waffles with your favorite toppings.

 

2¼ cups all-purpose flour (270g)

¼ cup granulated sugar (50g) – or as little as 2 Tablespoons

1 tablespoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

2 cups milk (480ml), room temperature

½ cup unsalted butter, melted (113g) or ½ cup light olive oil or ¼ cup of each

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Preheat the waffle iron. (If you can choose settings, I recommend a darker or higher heat setting for a crispier waffle.)

 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir together just until combined – do not over mix.

 

Add about 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle to the hot waffle iron. (The amount will depend on the size of your waffle maker so feel free to experiment with how much you add.)

 

Cook until golden brown. Place on a wire rack until ready to serve so they stay crisp. Serve hot with maple syrup and butter or your favorite toppings.

 

 

Yield: This recipe yields approximately 6-10 waffles, depending on the size of waffle maker used.

 

Notes:

Sugar. I use ¼ cup of granulated sugar, but if you want less sweetness, you can use as little as 2 tablespoons.

Use room temperature eggs if possible. This is not a make-or-break situation! If you are making this waffle recipe first thing in the morning and need to use eggs straight out of the refrigerator, your waffles will still turn out delicious! But if you have the time, set the eggs out 30 minutes to 1 hour before you start the waffles.

Weigh the flour. If you don’t feel like whipping out the kitchen scale at breakfast time, you can measure the flour right out of the bag, but give it a light fluff and spoon it into the measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. Never scoop directly into the bag. For this method, use 2 cups of flour. If you do use a kitchen scale, measure 270 grams, which is actually 2¼ cups of flour. I’ve tested this recipe countless times, and both of these methods of measuring flour yield perfect waffles.

Don’t over-mix the batter. Once the wet and dry ingredients are just incorporated, the batter is ready. It might be a little lumpy, and that’s okay! Those lumps will actually help with the fluffy texture.

For waffles that stay crisp: Place the cooked waffles on a wire rack when they’re ready. If you pile them up on a platter, they release steam and soften up. You can also warm the oven to 200°F and place the wire rack in the oven to keep the waffles warm.

Between waffles, let the waffle iron heat up again. A warm waffle maker will not give you crisp waffles: You need it screaming hot, so give it at least 30 seconds between each waffle to heat back up.