Byerly's Famous Beer Cheese Soup

Photo Credit Parsley at Food.com

BaconSlut is at it again.  Chilly fall evenings usher in thoughts of (local grocery) Byerly's famous beer cheese soup for those living in these parts.  It is both comfort and joy in a bowl.  Add a crisp green side salad and some crusty bread, and a delicious dinner is done! Make 8 cups. 

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup minced onion

2/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 (10 3/4 oz. can) chicken broth

4 cups whole milk

1 (12 oz.) can of beer  (Byerly's uses local Summit Pilsner)

3 cups freshly and finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese  (Byerly's uses local Land O' Lakes)

popcorn (for garnish)

Melt butter in large kettle; saute onion until soft.

Blend in flour and seasonings, and gradually stir in broth, milk, and beer.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil; boil and stir one minute.

Stir in cheese (do this slowly, in small batches, making sure all of the cheese is melted before adding additional  cheese).  Heat and stir until smooth.  Garnish with popcorn.

Raspberry Charlotte

Eliza submitted this recipe from Saveur Magazine online.  Looks yummy and versatile. 

FOR THE CAKE:
1 tbsp. butter
4 eggs, separated
½ cup sugar
7 tbsp. cake flour
1¼ tsp. vanilla extract

FOR THE FILLING:
9 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
¾ cup sugar
1 package unflavored gelatin
¼ cup eau-de-vie de poire (pear brandy)
2 cups heavy cream

FOR THE SAUCE:
3 tbsp. superfine sugar
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. eau-de-vie de poire (pear brandy)

 1. For the cake: Preheat oven to 400°. Butter a 9" springform pan and line bottom with buttered parchment. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale yellow. Gradually beat in flour until mixture is smooth. Add vanilla and set aside. Whisk egg whites in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form, then fold whites into yolk mixture, taking care not to deflate whites. Pour into pan and bake until brown, 25–30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. For the filling: Put raspberries, sugar, and 1 cup water into a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until sugar dissolves and berries break down, about 10 minutes. Press through a sieve set over a bowl to catch purée. Return 2 cups purée to pan and set over low heat. Reserve remaining purée for sauce. Sprinkle gelatin in ¼ cup cold water, set aside until softened, then add to purée in pan, stirring until dissolved, 1–2 minutes. Remove from heat, add eau-de-vie, and set aside to cool. Whip cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gently fold cooled purée into cream.

3. Unmold cake and discard parchment. Slice cake in half crosswise, then return cake bottom to pan with ring reattached. Pour in filling, then replace cake top, brown side up. Cover with plastic; refrigerate for 24 hours.

4. For the sauce: Combine reserved berry purée, sugar, lemon juice, and eau-de-vie in a bowl and stir until sugar has dissolved. Slice cake and serve with sauce.

Ooey, Gooey Chocolate Chip & Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

Thanks to GingerSoul, I will gain back the 15 lbs I recently lost.  These look Mauv-e-lus!!!

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Pinch of salt
1 cup oats
¼ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a KitchenAid standalone mixer with paddle attachment (or electric mixer), cream butter and sugar together.
3. Add vanilla and egg and mix on low speed.
4. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a separate bowl, and add a little at a time while mixing on low speed.
5. Add oats and mix until just blended.
6. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts by hand with a large spoon.
7. Using a cookie scooper (or teaspoon), drop round balls of cookie dough on a baking sheet at least 1 inch apart.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden brown. Do not overbake or cookies will be too hard.
9. Transfer to a cooling rack using a spatula. 

Makes 16 cookies.

Don't Ask Why Rotisserie Chicken Thighs

Bake these and you'll have individual portions of rotisserie chicken!

We buy the thighs in bulk from Costco, but thighs are one of the more inexpensive parts of the chicken at any grocery store. So, if you are looking to wow on a budget, look for medium to large sized thighs, bone-in. There is so much more flavor and moistness in a chicken thigh. Once you try thigh, you'll never ask why!!

*Preheat oven to 325.

Needed:

Chicken thighs (as many as you want; we suggest at least 2 per person)
One pat of unsalted butter for each thigh
salt
paprika
a mild dried herb, such as marjoram, parsley or basil


Rinse and pat dry the thighs. Spray a large, high-edged baking pan. Liberally salt both sides of each thigh. Loosen the skin on top of each thigh by sliding your finger underneath the membrane, and placing a pat of unsalted butter, centered up under there. Sprinkle paprika and your herbs on top.

Cook, uncovered, for one and a half hours.

This will make the skin get crispy and the bottoms of the thighs will remain moist, because they are sitting directly in the pan. (Do not use a rack inside your pan!)
If you have a meat thermometer it should quickly read over 160 when you test them at this point. You won't have any pink showing--you want them to be almost over-cooked and easily coming off the bone.

*We used a self-correcting convection oven set to 325 and baked for one hour and twenty minutes. If your convection oven does not self-correct, set it to 300 degrees.
If you are using a conventional (plain 'ole regular oven), bake for at least one and a half hours. Keep an eye on them, of course.

Shrimp stuffed Bell Peppers

4 medium red bell peppers, tops cut off and seeded
3 slices white bread, torn into pieces
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
2 cups chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
3 tablespoons oil
1 lb small shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large egg
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons panko crumbs

Heat oven to 350

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add peppers, reduce heat to simmer and cook 10 mins,  Drain and set peppers aside.

Combine bread and water.   Let stand for 5 mins then drain bread and squeeze dry. 

In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic, cook until onion is tender and stirring so it doesn't burn.  Remove from heat.

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add shrimp and cook until pink and firm (abt 5 mins), stiring occasionally.

In a large bowl, stir together on the onion mixture, bread, egg, ketchum, Worchestershire, Cajun seasoning and pepper.  Add shrimp and stir until evenly combined.  Divide among the bell peppers and placed on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake for 30-35 mins.

**you can sub the shrimp with chicken or any protein that appeals to you**

Bow-Tie Pasta side dish

I honestly don't know what to call this.  The only thing that is ever consistent in it is the pasta.  Like BaconSlut, I eyeball the dressing ingredients because it's good no matter what.  I know it looks gross by the ingredients, but it really is good.  I use things from the garden so I add whatever is growing.

1 Box BowTie Pasta (I prefer the small size pasta)

1-2 cups of Mayo or Miracle Whip
1/3 cup Parm cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
a small handful of chopped up basil or about a tablespoon of dry

1 cut up green pepper
1 cut up red pepper
a pint of cherry tomatoes, halved;  or tomatoes from the garden, diced up
1/2 a diced onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup peas
12 oz chopped up broccoli

Make the pasta according to directions and drain.  Chop up the peppers, onion and broccoli and mix with the pasta.  Mix up the mayo, cheese, sugar and basil until the sugar dissolves and add to the pasta/veggies.  Fold in the tomatoes and refrig for a few hours before serving.  Goes great with steaks.

Granite Steps Blueberry Coffee Cake

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) can buttermilk biscuits
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks ) butter, melted
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 - 2cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon lemon zest





Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Generously grease a 9-inch square baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well with a fork. Separate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits. Cut each biscuit into quarters, and dip each piece in melted butter and coat with brown sugar mixture. Arrange in a single layer in baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the oats.

Combine blueberries and sugar in a bowl and toss to coat. Spoon over oats and biscuits and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup oats. Drizzle remaining melted butter on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until cake is golden brown and center is done. Cool for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Blueberry Tea Bread

Don't ask me why it's called Tea Bread.  I would assume it's something fancy bitches make for the Wedding Teas and Brunches.


2 Tb cake flour
2 Tb sugar
1 Tb chopped almonds (I left these out)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, divided
1 1/2 cups blueberries
3 cups sifted cake flour, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 Tb vanilla

Combine first 4 ingredients.  Stir in 1 tsp butter until crumbly.  Set aside.
Combine blueberries and 2 Tb flour, tossing to coat.  Set aside.
Stir together remaining flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in remaining butter until mixture is crumbly.
Whisk together egg, milk, and vanilla.  Add to the flour mixture, stirring until all ingredients are moistened.  Fold in blueberries.
Pour into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan.  Sprinkle the almond mixture over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Lest rest in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

PEAR, THYME AND PORT PRESERVES

Another one from Beth Dooley's "Minnesota's Bounty" cookbook!

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon orange zest

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

generous pinch of salt

2 lbs pears, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

1/4 cup port

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

Prepare a stockpot or canner and jars.

In a large pot, stir together the dried cranberries, brown sugar, orange and lemon juices, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt, and set the pot over medium-low heat.  Bring to a boil, stirring so the sugar dissolves.  Add the pears, cover the pot, lower heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove the cover and simmer until the preserves thicken, 15-20 minutes.  To test readiness, put a teaspoon of the preserves on a cold plate.  Put the plate in the freezer for a minute.  If the preserves hold their shape when pushed with your finger, they are ready.  If not, continue cooking and test again.  Stir in the port and the thyme.

Ladle the preserves into the hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.  Wipe the jar rims, center the lids on the jars, and screw the bands until they are just finger tight.

Process the jars for 10 minutes in enough boiling water to cover the jars by one inch.  Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and allow the jars to stand in the hot water for 5 minutes before removing them.  Cool the jars for at least 12 hours before storing them in a cool, dark place.

Submitted by BaconSlut