Potato Soup - Ninja Style

Schools and local government facilities were closed today in anticipation of ice, sleet, and/or snow.  We had none.  By nightfall, the temperature had dropped below freezing but no frozen precipitation.  The current temperature is 28 degrees and  it's ll:40 p.m. EST.  Snow and ice fell in the northern part of the county.  Since we were expecting cold, I cooked a cold weather meal for hubby and me ... Potato Soup in my Ninja Foodi.

1/2 stick butter

1 large onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used 10 medium)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

3 Tbsp parsley

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

4 Tbsp corn starch

4 Tbsp water

1 can kernel corn, drained

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 block (4 oz) cream cheese

32 oz carton chicken broth

2 cups half-and-half

Melt butter in pot.  Sauté onion and celery in melted butter until soft and translucent (about 6-8 minutes).  Add seasonings and stir until combined. Stir  in the 32-oz carton chicken broth.

Add the potatoes to the crisping pan and insert into the Ninja Foodi.  Place the pressure lid on the pot and cook on High for 5 minutes.  Natural release pressure.

Remove crisping pan with the potatoes from the cooker.  Stir together the corn starch and the water.  Change the setting to Sauté and stir in the corn starch mixture and bring to a simmer.  Add cheeses and stir in until cheeses are melted. Stir in the corn

Add potatoes and stir until thoroughly combined.

Stir in the half-and-half and simmer until heated throughout.

Serve.

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy - Ninja Foodi Style

Loving the versatility of this Ninja Foodi.  I made Saturday Morning Breakfast in it today and it was delicious.  Hubby LOVED it.  The best thing about it was cooking everything in one pot ... including the biscuits.

The Ninja Foodi Cookbook includes a recipe for this but I didn’t go strictly by it.  It called for a tablespoon of *salt and two teaspoons of *black pepper.  Since I used hot sausage, I sprinkled just a bit of black pepper and added a dash of salt.

The sausage already has salt in it and the cheese that is stuffed into the biscuits also has salt (cheese usually tastes a bit salty to me).  I felt the only need for the salt was to season the all-purpose flour and the milk that is added to the sausage to make the gravy.

Ninja Foodi Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Pkg (12 oz) uncooked ground breakfast sausage, crumbled
1 teaspoon kosher salt (*see note above)
2 teaspoons black pepper (*see note above)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tube (16.3 ounces) refrigerated biscuit dough

Directions:

Select SEAR/SAUTE and set to HIGH.  Select START/STOP to begin.  Allow to preheat for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, add the sausage, *salt, and *pepper to the pot.  Cook for 5 minutes, or until sausage browns, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

Add the butter and melt completely.  Then add flour and stir to combine.  Cook for 2 minutes, then whisk in milk.  Bring to a simmer, then cook for 5 minutes, or until thickened.

While gravy is cooking, gently separate biscuits and fill each with cheddar cheese, sandwich style.

Coat the reversible rack with cooking spray, making sure rack is in the lower position.  Place stuffed biscuits on rack.  Once gravy has thickened, lower rack with biscuits into pot.

Close crisping lid.  Select BAKE/ROAST, set temperature to 325F, set time to 15 minutes. Select START/STOP to begin.

When cooking is complete, remove rack and biscuits.  Transfer biscuits to a serving platter or a plate and top with gravy.  Serve immediately.

I prepped by biscuits before I started the cooking process of the sausage so that they would be ready to place in the pan after the gravy had thickened.  Also, I used slices of sharp cheddar cheese rather than the shredded cheddar cheese.  I cut each square of cheese into 4 squares and inserted one square into each biscuits.

Christmas Gift From My Husband

I really wanted a Ninja Foodi for Christmas and, guess what, hubby bought one for me.  I already had a Power Cooker but it doesn’t have the same cababilities as the Ninja Foodi.  

My first venture using my Ninja was to bake three sweet potatoes in it (16 minutes pressure cooker time).  I ate one and topped it with butter ... it was delish!!! I used the other two to bake a Sweet Potato Pie.

After church on Sunday, hubby and I went by the grocery store and purchased a few groceries which included a bag of frozen French fries.  I cooked a few in the Ninja Foodi using the Air Crisp feature at 360 degrees.  The fries were Delish ... done in 20 minutes (which included 5 minutes to preheat the cooker. 

Next meal ... Chicken Pot Pie in the Ninja Foodi. 

Chocolate Mug Cake

I wanted something sweet but didn’t want to spend the next couple of hours in the kitchen cooking.  My sister Sarah gave hubby and me a couple of microwave safe bowls and I used them to bake my cake in the microwave.  Here is my recipe:

Butter the microwave safe containers

In a large bowl, whisk together until thoroughly combined:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt.
2 tablespoons cocoa

Blend in until combined:
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla

Pour half of batter into each bowl and bake (one at a time) in microwave oven approximately 2 minutes & 50 seconds or until a toothpick inserted in comes out clean.

Remove from microwave and enjoy.

Note:  Pour Chocolate Syrup over, if desired.

Mexican Cornbread, Please

Mexican Cornbread

Since discovering how to grind my own cornmeal from popcorn, I’ve wanted to try my hand at Mexican Cornbread from some of my freshly ground cornmeal.  I purchased a 14-cup Cuisinart Food Processor a couple of years ago and I’ve had it just sitting on my counter top, unused.  I’ve looked at it several times and actually wondered why I purchased a machine so complex and intimidating rather than one that is simple enough to just plug in and process.  The recipe calls for grated cheddar cheese and I decided that I wanted to try-out this food processor to grate the cheese.  I was totally blown away with the ease in which it grated that cheese.  No longer intimidated, I’m looking forward to using it again real soon.  I think I may try making a batch of cookies real soon using the dough blade.

Mexican Cornbread

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 15-oz can cream style corn
• 1/2 cup chopped jalapeño peppers
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Grind the popcorn to make enough cornmeal to equal 1 1/2 cups
2. Grate the cheese in the food processor (to equal 1 cup ... a little over will not hurt)
3. Chop the jalapeño peppers (either fresh or canned)
4. Combine dry ingredients together in medium mixing bowl
5. Add eggs, vegetable oil, and corn and mix well
6. Fold in jalapeño peppers and cheese
7. Spoon into hot prepared pans
8. Bake at 350 F 30 minutes or until done.

Sarah's Fried Sweet Potatoes

My Sister Sarah

I talked with my sister Sarah this morning (she is our family's Amazing Grace) and she fried some sweet potatoes for our mother's breakfast.  I remember eating this amazing dish as a child ... one of the many wonderful delicious things our Mother cooked for us.  I don't know why I've not continued this tradition but my sister has.  I asked her how she prepared hers and the recipe she gave me is surprisingly simple.  Sarah says:

"I just peel them, slice them up, and cook them covered on medium heat, take them out and sprinkle with salt...".  Sarah says a dear, departed, friend of hers, Patsy, sprinkled hers with sugar.

Looking forward to cooking these so, here's a picture of hers on the left.  They look so yummy.


Note;  Sarah says she does turn them over while cooking them.  If you wait until the bottom of the potatoes are browned, you’ve probably cooked them too long and they will be hard.  Use your judgment.  She saves her leftover grease from frying her potatoes in a cannng jar.

My Favorite Red Velvet Cake

I purchased a cookbook back in the early 1970s from one of my co-workers and in it was a recipe for a Red Velvet Cake.  I baked one and it quickly became one of the favorite cakes in our household for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

I purchased a new cookbook at BJ's yesterday and in it was another version of Red Velvet Cake.  Although the recipe below is my current favorite, I plan to check out the recipe in my new cookbook.  I've seen plenty of Red Velvet cake recipes but they normally call for shortening or vegetable oil.  The thing I love about my current recipe is that it calls for the use of butter, as does the recipe in my new cookbook.  There are a few differences between the two recipes, more or less of some ingredients.  I plan to bake one of each during the upcoming holiday season to determine if there are visual and taste differences.

My Favorite Red Velvet Cake (Currently)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 heaping tbsps cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 oz red food color
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Grease cake pans & line with parchment paper.  Flour pans.
3. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla together.  Add eggs, one at a time.
4. Make a thin paste of cocoa powder and red food color.  Add to creamed mixture.
5. Sift flour and salt together and add alternately with buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, beginning and ending with flour.
6. Mix baking soda and vinegar together and blend into batter.
7. Bake at 350F 20-30 minutes (depending on oven temperature)
8. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Here's the recipe for the Red Velvet Cake in my new cookbook.  

Red Velvet Cake Inspired by California Pizza Kitchen

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 bottle (1 ounce) red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray three 9-inch round  cake pans with nonstick cooking spray.  Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper; spray with cooking spray.
2. For cake, combine flour, cocoa, and salt in medium bowl, mix well.  Combine buttermilk, food coloring and 1 teaspoon vanilla in small bowl; mix well.
3. Beat granulated sugar and 1 cup butter in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well blended after each edition.  Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beating at low speed after each addition.  Stir vinegar into baking sodden small bowl.  Add to batter; stir gently until blended.  Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean.  Cool in pans 10 minutes.  Invert onto wire racks; peel off parchment and cool completely.

Frosting

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) team cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 14 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 ounces white chocolate, shaved with vegetable peeler

1. For frosting, beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy.  Add powdered sugar, milk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla; beat at low speed until blended.  Beat at medium speed until smooth.
2. Place o ne cake layer on serving plate.  Top with 1 1/2 cups frosting; speed evenly.  Top with second cake layer; spread with 1 1/2 cups frosting.  Top with remaining cake layer; spread remaining frosting over top and side of cake.  Press white chocolate shavings into side of cake.