White Bean and Ham Soup

Most of the time, I'm not thinking of dinner a day in advance.  To prepare dry beans, this is necessary because they need to soak over night before cooking, unless they are lima beans.  Whether large or small, lima beans are able to cook down in only 3-4 hours when other beans require 8-10. This soup is so basic, you'll just about fall over from the flavor. The recipe here is the absolute beginning that can be dressed up as you wish.

Ingredients:

Leftover Ham Bone with some meat still attached
1 bag of small Lima Beans
6-8 Cups Water
2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Pepper
2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 C. sliced carrots (optional)

Place all ingredients in a covered pot over medium heat (a crock pot could also be used on high).  Cook for 3-4 hours until beans are tender.  Remove bone.  Break up pieces of ham if necessary.  Serve with or without bread or crackers.  Serves 8 -- sometimes with leftovers.

Cinammon Chicken

Cinammon and Chicken?!  I know.  Curiosity was the reason I dug in to this dish served at the Huntsman Hotel located inside the This is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.  It was so delicious, I just had to find a way to recreate it at home.

Ingredients:

4 lbs. skinless, bone-in chicken
1 Tbsp of oil (for browning chicken)
1 large can tomato sauce
water
2 tsp salt
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp cinammon

Be sure to use bone-in chicken, the sauce does not reach the same depth of flavor without them.  Brown the chicken first on medium heat (about ten minutes) sprinkling with half of the salt.  Pour tomato sauce over the chicken and 1/3 can of water.  Add spices, stirring gently around the meat.  Keep heat on medium.  Simmer for 45 minutes until chicken is cooked thoroughly.  This dish serves 8 and would probably be phenomenal with carmelized onions and garlic pureed into the sauce.

Serve with white rice and your favorite steamed veggies.

Rebecca's Potato Salad

This recipe is an adaptation from my mom's potato salad.  She always used hard boiled eggs and, well, it's a little embarrassing to say the reasons why I can't eat them, but the substitution of bacon definately made up for it.  She also used a Ranch Salad Dressing seasoning packet to season hers.  However, this is not an option for our gluten-free family.  This recipe is a favorite all around!

The Basics

5lbs of potatoes
1/2 C. minced dill pickles
24 oz. bacon

The Dressing

1/4 C. Parmesian Cheese
1 C. heavy cream
1/4 C. spicy brown mustard
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. powdered garlic
1 TBSP. dehydrated onion (ground)
2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

Before I get started on instructions, I should warn you that I have always "eyeballed" the seasonings this recipe and seasoned by taste after that.  Frustrating to recreate, I know, but not impossible.  My mom made hers with large, wooden spoon dollops of miracle whip instead of cream (the cream supports the flavors better in my book).   So, don't be afraid to use your tongue and adjust what's missing for you!

First, boil potatoes (skin on) until fork tender...stick a fork in it!  (Some of my family like this salad "mashed potato" style...this means over-boiling the potatoes a bit.)  While potatoes are cooking, prepare the bacon.  This can be done 6 minutes at a time by laying strips across a long plate and setting in the microwave or in a frying pan -- either way, keep the bacon strips seperated from each other for better crispness.  Allow them to cool, then chop into "crumbs."  If you are using whole pickles, chop these while at it.  You can also mix all of the dressing ingrediants in a bowl so the flavors have some time to infuse into the cream.   After the potatoes are ready, cool them in a cold water bath, peel, and cut into bite sized pieces.  Place in a large mixing bowl and stir in the cream.  (You may have to use clean hands for this.)  Serve warm or keep refridgerated until ready.