Cooking With Rexanne

Scott’s Awesome Potato Soup

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My friend, Scott, posted a video of him making his awesome potato soup and it inspired me to make a batch. OMG it is as delicious as it looks!

This is not hard to make but it is time consuming. Lots of chopping and preparation involved. You and your family will LOVE this soup and I found it well worth the time to make it.

Enjoy: Scott’s Potato Soup

I did modify his recipe some. I omitted the green bell peppers and added at least twice as much cheese as the recipe calls for – it turned out just fine.

Everyone at the table ate at least 2 big bowls and have been asking me to make it again.

Fettuccine Alfredo

A kiddie favorite.

Ingredients:

1 pound Di Cecco Fettuccine
1 pint heavy cream (whipping cream)
1 stick salted butter (melted)
2 egg yolks (beaten)
1 cup grated Parmigianno (or Parmisan) cheese
1 tsp. Ground pepper

Optional:
1 cup cooked peas
1 cup chopped ham

Preparation:

– Cook fettuccine in boiling, salted water until “al dente.” While fettuccine is cooking:

– Melt butter

– Beat egg yolks with a fork until smooth

– Heat cream and pepper on low flame in a small saucepan.

When pasta is cooked, partially drain water (don’t shake the colander – you want to keep some of the water to loosen the sauce). Toss in a large serving bowl with melted butter until coated. Add cream, toss to coat. Add egg yolks, toss to coat. Add Parmigianno cheese, toss some more.

Add peas and ham (if using) and toss to combine

Serve hot.

Serves 4

Pasta Cooking Tips

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Pasta Cooking Tips

– I always use De Cecco pasta. It makes a big difference in texture and taste.

– Use a large pot capable of holding 1 quart of water per 3 1/2 oz of pasta.

– Bring water to a rolling boil, then add salt ( 3 Tbs. salt per 1 quart of water.)

– Add the pasta to the water plus a few drops of any cooking oil (prevents pasta from sticking together and prevents water from boiling over). Stir pasta right away with a wooden spoon or a pasta fork and also stir occasionally during the cooking process. I typically taste test a piece of pasta close to the cooking time suggested on the package to ensure it is not overcooked which is pure sacrilege in Italian cooking .

– When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain immediately in a colander. For recipes that indicate adding some pasta water to the sauce, do not drain pasta completely. Otherwise, shake and drain all the water from the cooked pasta and transfer to a serving dish.

– Add sauce immediately and stir to coat all pasta. If the pasta is going to sit for any length of time before adding the sauce or toppings, drizzle with olive oil and mix to coat evenly.

Easy Corned Beef and Cabbage

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Easy Corned Beef and Cabbage

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Spicy Mustard Sauce

A typical St. Patrick’s Day meal that’s good any time of the year. This recipe is easy to prepare because a typical beef brisket already comes with the seasonings. YAY for easy!

Ingredients:

1 large Beef Brisket (at least 3 pounds with seasoning package included)
1 Head of green cabbage
8 large (or 12 small) Red Potatoes
4 Large Carrots
1 Large Onion

Preparation:

In a large pot, add beef brisket with seasoning package and enough water to completely cover the meat. Cook on medium high heat for an hour or until water is lightly boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer.

While the meat is cooking:

Peel carrots and cut in half).
Wash potatoes and cut large potatoes into quarters.
Peel and cut onion into quarters.
Cut cabbage into quarters.

Add the onion, carrots and potatoes (if you’re using small potatoes, do not cut, leave whole) – cook another 15 minutes.
Add the quartered cabbage pieces and cook another 15 minutes.

Serve with Spicy Sweet Mustard Sauce (to dip meat) and fresh sliced French bread for a well-rounded, Irish-inspired meal.

Serves 6

Note for the confused: In the above picture, I used a small bag of white finger potatoes and left them whole. They work just as well as red potatoes in this recipe.

Spices & Seasonings

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I try to use fresh herbs whenever possible. Fresh garlic is a must and I would never recommend or use bottled crushed garlic. It’s just not as good as fresh and certainly not as healthy and I use organic whenever I can find it.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil will absolutely make your food taste better – use it

Some of the spices and seasonings I use regularly (other than salt & pepper) and you will need for my recipes:

Seasonings:

Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
Lawry’s Garlic Salt

Fresh garlic
Fresh onions
Fresh basil
Fresh parsley

Essential spices to have on hand

Bay Leaves
Beau Monde
Cayenne
Chili Powder
Cinnamon
Onion Powder
Oregano
Red Pepper Flakes
Rosemary
Tarragon
Thyme

French Green Beans

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For the record, I hate green beans, but I love French green beans, which are thinner and have a more delicate flavor. These are not the French sliced green beans in the frozen food section of your market although you could certainly adapt this recipe to use them. I find these whole French Green Beans at Trader Joe’s markets. If you can find them, great. Otherwise, you can make this recipe with regular old fat green beans.

Ingredients:

1 pound French Green Beans
4 TBS. Salted Butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. Beau Monde seasoning
1 tsp Cayenne

Preparation:

Cook green beans in a medium size pot with enough water to cover them and 1 tsp. salt. Good until tender but still a bit crunchy. You don’t want mushy green beans.

In a serving dish, combine butter (cut into small pieces), Beau Monde and Cayenne. Mix and serve hot.

Serves 4

Halloween Dinner for Kids

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Halloween Dinner for Kids

Perfect Trick or Treater’s Halloween dinner: Halloween Dinner

Spicy Sweet Mustard Sauce

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Spicy Sweet Mustard Sauce

A delicious slightly sweet mustard sauce that goes especially well as a dipping sauce with Kielbasa, sausage, Corned Beef & Cabbage or any other meat appetizer.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry mustard
1 egg
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 Tbs. sugar
1 cup mayonnaise

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients except the mayonnaise. Heat and stir with a wire whisk until thickened (about 5 minutes). Refrigerate until cooled and add mayo. Mix well and serve.

Makes about 1 cup.

Sliced Baked Red Potatoes

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Sliced Baked Red Potatoes

Ingredients:

8 large red potatoes
4 Tbsp. salted butter
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt

Preparation:

Slice washed red potatoes in 1/4 inch slices. Layer potatoes in a large glass baking dish. On top of each layer of potatoes, dot with butter and sprinkle evenly with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt.

Bake in 350 degree over for 45 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through and/or browned. Turn potatoes often to blend seasoning and brown evenly.

*This is one of my daughters’ favorite recipes. I typically make these with steak and a veggie for a well-rounded meal.

Serves 4

Turkey Kielbasa Appetizer

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Turkey Kielbasa Appetizer

Turkey Kielbasa with Spicy sweet mustard dipping sauce

There’s nothing really special about turkey kielbasa until you pair it with divine Spicy Sweet Mustard Sauce. Then you’ve got a delicious appetizer.

Ingredients:

1 package Hillshire Farms Turkey Kielbasa

Preparation:

Cut kielbasa links into 4 even sized pieces. Cook kielbasa links and a few teaspoons of water in a large frying pan over medium heat until browned on all sides. If kielbasa starts to burn, turn down heat and add a few more teaspoons of water. Remove from pan and slice into bite sized pieces.

Serve with Spicy Sweet Mustard Sauce for dipping.

Jalapeno Jelly and Cream Cheese

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My favorite appetizer and it’s easy and delish:

Dump a jar (small to medium) of very hot (spicy) Jalapeno jelly over a brick of cream cheese. Serve with Wheat Thin crackers.

This is a wonderful party dish to set out. Guests can dig into the cream cheese and scoop up some Jalapeno jelly with the crackers – no need for knives or serving utensils.

Kids and Food

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I don’t ever recommend forcing a child to eat anything they find distasteful, whether just because it grosses them out or because they genuinely don’t like the taste.

I do ask that my kids at least try something new so they’ll know for future reference if they like it. Works really well and my kids eat a lot of foods most other kids would shriek about. This has worked with their friends, too.

It’s especially gratifying with the kids who are “picky” eaters … they usually always find something to eat at our home that they’d never dreamed of eating and they like it. They get the same rap as my daughters: “Just try it … you can spit it out and you don’t have to like or eat anything that doesn’t taste good to you …”