Irish Lamb Stew

First of all, I must apologize for these and all future pictures. I only have an old iPhone for most of them, and the pictures are not very pretty. But this stew was quite tasty, so here goes.

You will need:

2 lbs. boneless shoulder of lamb (I'm not sure I used shoulder, but it was mutton and it turned out fine).
2 tbsp. butter
2 c. boiling water
1-2 c. sliced carrots
1-2 c. cubed turnips
1-2 c. cubed potatoes (I used my little purple ones, so I only had to slice them in half of throw them in whole)
1 onion, sliced
salt & pepper as desired


Instructions:
Melt butter in hot skillet
Add lamb and brown on all sides
Stand back some as you add boiling water
Cover and simmer 1 hr.
Add vegetables and simmer 30 minutes more.
Add salt & pepper to taste and serve.

I wasn't sure I'd like this, since it doesn't have much seasoning and I'm not a huge fan of lamb. But it was actually really tasty and everyone liked it. 
 

One Pot Chicken Rice Soup

I know this isn't a very Christmasy meal, but my husband and I both got a cold this week, so when my mother in law said she didn't have dinner plans, I offered to cook. When I looked up chicken rice soup recipes on Pinterest, they all had cooked chicken. Which is fine....if you have some leftover cooked chicken. But we didn't. And who wants to go through cooking the chicken separately, and the rice, and then adding it to the soup (when you're already sick and feeling like a soggy tissue)?

So I tried making it all in one pot.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 quarts water

1 cup brown rice

2 lb package of chicken (I used legs & thighs, but breasts would be fine, too).

1 bag frozen peas

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, add water, chicken, and rice. Add more water if needed to make sure all the chicken is covered. Bring to a boil and cook about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, chop vegetables.
3. Add carrots, celery, onions, oil, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme
4. Cook another 20 minutes, until vegetables and rice are tender. Pull some of the chicken off the bones. It should come off pretty easily.
5. Add the frozen peas, salt & pepper to taste.

This turned out really well! I wasn't sure because all the recipes I found called for cooked chicken and cooked rice. But I wanted to make the whole thing in one pan. And it worked out really well. The rice thickened the broth so it was nice and thick and stew-like, and the rice was perfectly done at the same time as the chicken and veggies. I have never made chicken soup before (except chili verde), but I will definitely make it again. It was super easy and really tasty, and everyone liked it, even my picky son.

Skillet Lamb Chops

These are super quick chops and really easy, too. Fannie suggests using chops less than 1 inch thick for pan broiling.

Ingredients:
4-8 thin lamb chops
salt & pepper

 Directions:
Heat a cast iron skillet until very hot
Rub with the fat of one of the chops
Brown the chops quickly on each side
Lower heat and cook each chop about 3 minutes on each side
Salt & pepper to taste & serve hot (I served them with green bean casserole).

Salmon Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 extra small onion (about 1/4 c.) I used red onion
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/4 c. minced parsley (or 2 tbsp dried)
• 2 c. cooked brown rice
• About 1/2 can of salmon (or 2 cans tuna)
• salt & pepper to taste

 
Directions:

1. Melt butter in cast iron skillet.
2. Finely chop onion and green pepper and add to skillet.
3. Cook until onion is translucent.
4. Add rice and salmon and parsley and heat through.
5. Add salt & pepper and serve

Warm Mustard Sauce for Fish, etc

This sauce would go well with any fish, but I've always used it for salmon loaf.

Ingredients:
1/3 c. prepared mustard
3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. ground sage
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients in small sauce pan and heat over medium/low until hot but not boiling

End of Summer Vegetable Saute with Cheese

This is one of my lazy non-recipes, where I just throw together everything that sounds like it would go good together, smother it with cheese, and eat it in mass quantities. Though I've never used a recipe, I've decided to try to replicate my methods on some of the dishes that I make often but without following a recipe. So if it's not exact, that's because I never measure anything and just throw together most of my old standbys without much thought.

Here's what I used for this one:

• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small yellow crookneck squash
• 1 onion
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 c. shredded cheese
• 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.  Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet
2. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently
3. Meanwhile, chop bell peppers & garlic or shred in food processor
4. Add to pan and cook about 3 minutes, stirring frequently
5. Meanwhile, slice zucchini and squash, and chop tomatoes
6. Add to pan, cover, and cook about 10 minutes or until zucchini is tender, stirring occasionally.
7. Remove from heat, add salt & pepper and top with cheese, cover,  and let sit until cheese is melted.

Lentils with Pork or Sausage

This is another of those recipes that I found in Fannie and then ended up adapting so much that I'm not sure it's even based on her recipe anymore. Her recipe was for Lentils and Sausage, and I didn't have sausage, so I used some pork bones for flavor (and boy did they make the whole thing taste like I was eating pork instead of lentils!) and tried to follow the rest of the recipe. It didn't work out that well, as it was WAY dry and I had to double the water. By the time I was done, it had very few aspects of the Fannie Recipe. If I have sausage again, I might make this, but I found it a bit lacking of vegetables and overall a disappointment. It was way too bland for me. I love my lentil soup (I don't have a recipe, but I've made it many times and it always turns out full of flavor) and this was just eh. The next time I make a lentil dish, I will probably not repeat this one.

For this, I used:
1 1/4 c. dried lentils
2.5 c. water
2 small onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 potatoes, chopped
1 bay leaf
pork bones OR 1/2 lb. italian sausage, cut in 2 inch pieces

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot, combine lentils and water. 
2. Add onions, garlic and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.
3. Add potatoes and sausage or soup bones.
4. Simmer 20-30 minutes until lentils are soft.
5. I had to add about 2 c. more water because not everything was covered by the water. It all boiled away, so this is not a soup, but a drier lentil dish.

I ended up putting soy sauce and sour cream and cilantro on this just to make it have some kind of flavor besides overwhelming pork-ness. Seriously, it was like I was eating a pork chop. Couldn't taste anything else!

Sauteed Summer Squash and Zucchini with Onions

Remember my sauteed summer squash from the other day? Well, this is another way to do it. This was more like the one my mom used to make when we were kids, though she didn't use zucchini in hers. But, I'm trying to use up what we have, so this was another good option.

I served this with pork chops and apple zucchini bread. It's an easy side dish for just about any meat.

You will need:
2-3 tbsp. butter
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow crookneck squash
1 small onion
Salt & pepper to taste

 Melt the butter in a skillet.

Chop the onion and add to pan. Cook 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
 
While onion cooks, half lengthwise (if desired) and slice your zucchini and squash. Add to pan and cook for additional 10 minutes (covered if you like your squash well done, uncovered if you like it al dente), stirring occasionally.

Skillet-Fried Pork Chops

 

This is the second time I've made pork chops, and unlike last time, I paid attention to their thickness and didn't overcook them. They turned out really well.

For this you will need:
3-6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick.
1-2 tbsp. flour
salt & pepper

Dust each chop with flour, then sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cook each 1/2 inch thick chop for 5 minutes on each side, a 3/4 inch one for 8 minutes per side.

I served these with sauteed summer squash and apple zucchini bread. It was a much greater success than last time I tried to make pork chops. It's all about the thickness. Live and learn!

Sauteed Summer Squash with Tomatoes

This is one of the summer squash recipes from Fannie Farmer. It's actually one of the variations of a recipe that is just fried squash. I added tomatoes to this, and since I had half a zucchini that needed to be used, I threw that in, too.

It was pretty good. My homegrown squash and zucchini has great flavor, and the butter was a different take on it, since I usually saute it in olive oil. But it was a quick, simple side dish and very edible.

For this, I used:
2 tbsp. butter
1 small yellow/crookneck squash
1/2 zucchini
1 large tomato
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in skillet.

Cook over medium/low heat for about 10 minutes, until squash is soft, adding tomatoes for the last 3-5 minutes.

This made enough for a small helping of veggies for 2-3 people, and it goes well with any meat. I love any variation of fried squash, and could just eat this by itself. So good!

Mulligatawny Soup

I've heard of mulligatawny soup before, but it was one of those words I'd heard while never really knowing what it was (like vissisous). Apparently it's an Indian dish that made it's way over here a long, long time ago. I looked it up on Pinterest and all the recipes used lentils, but Fannie's uses meat, listed as an optional ingredient. With or without meat, she doesn't mention lentils. Since I was trying to make a FF recipe, I followed hers rather closely, with the exception of using a red pepper in place of celery, since I don't have celery and it would be criminal to buy a vegetable at this point, with my counters overflowing with homegrown organic veggies of all sorts (except the celery variety).

Here's my adaptation for this:

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter
1 diced onion
1 diced carrot
1 diced green pepper
1 diced red pepper (or a couple stalks of celery, which I didn't have, so I used peppers)
1 diced apple
1 jalepeno, minced (or 1/8 tsp. cayenne)

1 lb raw beef
1/3 c. flour
1 tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
6 c. water (or use beef broth if you have it)
2 crushed cloves
1 large tomato, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

3 c. cooked brown rice

optional garnishes: slivered almonds, cashews, or chilled banana slices. I didn't use any of these. I used some plain yogurt for garnish, because it's what I usually eat with Indian food.

Directions:
Melt 2 tbsp. butter in large pot

  Add vegetables and meat (everything down to the flour) and cook 15 minutes on low heat, stirring often.

 Add other 2 tbsp. butter, flour, nutmeg & curry powder and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add water, cloves, tomato, salt & pepper and simmer 30 minutes.

Serve in bowls atop rice, with preferred garnish.

I'm not a huge fan of Indian curry, so I wasn't crazy about this, but it was okay. My husband liked it well enough, and my son ate it one day as well. Since it makes a big pot of soup, we ended up having it for dinner a couple times, though my son requested a cheese sandwich the second night we had this. It's a good soup if you like curry. Otherwise, I'd skip this one.

Coconut Almond Macaroons--Gluten Free, Grain Free

Okay, this is my first recipe that's not from Fannie Farmer. Why? Because this blog is Fanny and Me. So here's one that I made for me. I'm still doing mostly Fannie, so I can cook every day. But when I make something from another source, I'm posting it here as well.

I've decided that I'm going to have to expand from Fannie Farmer and do some posts about the recipes I make that are not from Fannie. I have been doing them on my other blog, but that just takes too much time! So I'm combining my cooking endeavors into one blog...those from Fannie, and those for me. 
I found this recipe on Pinterest of course, and it looked really simple and healthy. It's based on this recipe over at Grain Crazy blog. She has a ton of healthy recipes over there.

This one did taste a little granola-girl, but it was still good. It reminded me of something my vegetarian hippie parents fed me when I was a kid. Of course, back then it would have been a big treat. With all the processed foods around, my son wasn't very interested in these. He did eat one and say they were good, though. Also, my uber-picky sister ate one and, even though she professes to hate almond extract, said she liked them. So did my mom. So they have the approval of everyone, and I'm calling them a success.

 For the recipe, I used:

1 c. raw almonds, blended
1/2 c. shredded coconut
1/4 c. coconut oil (mine was congealed at the time, but you could use liquid, though I'd say it would probably make it a bit more tricky).
2 tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Mix everything in a small bowl and set in fridge to harden a bit. I only put mine in for half an hour, though you could do longer.
Remove from fridge and shape into balls.
Return to fridge for about an hour, or until hardened.

Like I said, these were so simple to make and very healthy and yummy. They are, however, sort of expensive, like most healthy food. I don't know that I'd make these every day, but they are a great tasting healthy recipe that I'll try to use as a snack again sometime. 

Cream of Tomato Soup

This was AFTER adding 3 more cups of tomatoes.

This is a simple, easy recipe that I made one night when I was feeling very uninspired. I paired it with grilled cheese sandwiches for the classic combo.

This recipe was pretty alright. But it was more like cream soup (think chowder) than the cream of tomato soup you get at restaurants or from a can. I ended up going back and adding more tomatoes because I didn't care for the white-pink milkiness of the soup.

Here's my adaptation:
4 tbsp. butter
1 small onion, chopped
4 tbsp. flour
4 c. whole milk
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3-6 c. chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh)


Melt the butter in a large pot over low/med heat.

Add the onion and cook until soft.
Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring.

Add milk slowly.

Add bay leaf, sugar and salt and continue stirring until mixture thickens slightly.
 
Add baking soda to tomatoes, then add to milk mixture.
Continue cooking until soup begins to simmer.
Remove from heat and run through food processor or blender (or strainer/sieve)

Fannie calls for only 3 c. tomatoes, but I did not care for the milk soup. So I added twice that, and it was still very pale and creamy. So I'd go with at least that much. My husband and son both loved this soup, and since I canned a TON of tomatoes this summer, I'm sure I'll make it again this winter after a long day at work when I need a quick recipe.

All gone!