Beer Cheddar Spread & Hearty Tomato Soup

This went to a party, as a dip, Saturday night and disappeared, and then we used the other half I had kept at home (HaHaHa!) for grilled cheese sandwiches. With hot soup. Ummm.

Beer Cheddar Cheese
2 lbs sharp Cheddar, shredded
2-4 slices smoky bacon
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon Tabasco
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 can beer
In the bowl of a small food processor finely chop the onion and garlic. Add the Tabasco, paprika and bacon and pulse until mixed, scraping down as necessary. In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, blend onion mixture and cheddar. Gradually beat in beer and mix until blended, about one minute. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

MzJean's Hearty Tomato Soup
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1-1/2 teaspoon dried basil
6 ozs room temp cream cheese
1-1/4 cup milk
2 cans condensed tomato soup
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
Melt butter in pan and cook onion and garlic until wilted. Remove from heat; stir in paprika, basil and cream cheese. Whisk until smooth. Stir in tomatoes, soup and milk and heat through.

When in Pittsburgh

Our Super Bowl fete went very well, thank you.

Loads of hot appetizers provided by everyone, and ham sandwiches with good, hot soup at halftime provided by yours truly. Lordamercy we were full by the end of that boring-ass game.

The good, hot soup in question was my famous Pittsburgh Soup.

Pittsburgh Soup?

The recipe is based on "Dan's Vegetable Soup" in the Three Rivers Cookbook Volume II. The book was presented to me by my near-miss in-laws (who were lovely, lovely people - wayhay lovelier than their son) and is still inscribed, "To: (Me) From: Mom and Dad R."

The relationship died but the soup lives on. If you've ever been to Pittsburgh, this actually sounds like the city:

Pittsburgh Soup

1 lb lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

3 big stalks celery, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 very large or three smallish russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 large bag (I think it's about two pounds) of frozen soup veggies*

1/2 a head of cabbage, shredded

1 46 oz. can or bottle of V8 (NOT low sodium)

2 cups chicken stock

Several good dashes of Maggi seasoning (or Worcestershire)

1 tsp celery salt (DO NOT overdo the celery salt - you'll regret it)

2 tsps kosher salt, divided

50 cranks ground pepper

OPTIONAL - Small-diced polish sausage

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed stock pot. Add the onion and celery and cook until it begins to fade, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add beef, 1 tsp of salt and half the pepper. Break up the beef and brown it thoroughly (10-15 minutes).

While the beef browns, prepare your potatoes if you haven't already.

When meat is browned, drain off the fat. Add the remainder of the ingredients, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for at least 30 minutes.

This soup, as with so many dishes, is MUCH better the next day although it's pretty damn good right off the stove.

Serves 8-10 alone or more than a dozen with sandwiches.

*If you insist on cutting your own (out-of-season) corn from the cob, dicing your own carrots, shelling your own peas and snapping your own green beans, knock yourself out. I applaud you. However, I can't begin to tell you how much of each to add to the pot. Experiment and let me know how it turns out!

PS - Why the hell won't the Blogger Spell Check button work? HELP!

Jambalaya

If you notice, jambalaya seems to be a base and two meats/seafoods. Sure, you can put anything you have in the refrigerator in there, but it does seem to work best with two contrasting/complementary tastes. Up to you. Chicken/ham/smoked sausage. Shrimp/crawdads/lobster/scallops.

I prefer using crawdad tail meat to shrimp in most things...just a preference. If shrimp is easier to find where you are, have at it.

Last summer at a branch party one of our friends picked up a lobster on the way out. Turned it loose in one of the small pools in the creek and then just stood back. The kids thought Godzilla had come to Alabama! Even funnier was standing there, counting the college-educated ADULTS who fell for it!

Crawdad and Ham Jambalaya

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package frozen seasoning blend (onions, peppers & celery)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
4 bay leaves
1 pound ham, cubed
1 pound crawdad tails
1 14-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes w/juice
1/2 cup water or chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons cayenne
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup rice
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Heat the oil, add the seasoning blend and garlic and saute about five minutes or until soft. Add the ham and bay leaves, saute for 2-3 minutes. Add crawdads, tomatoes, water and spices and cook for ten minutes, stirring often. Add the rice, stir to mix, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the rice is tender. (Sometimes I have to add more water if it gets too thick before the rice is done.) Let stand about five minutes, stir in the green onions and serve.

Mardi Gras, continued

For 17 years, I had a Gingerbread House Party every year. Started out small, cookies and kids; ended up out-of-control when the newspaper covered it and the wire services picked up the story. I had friends and relatives coming OUT of the woodwork. Haven't had that party in...three?...years. But when I DID, this menu was what I served. Sure, it was Christmas time but hey, everyone else was cooking ham and turkey.
Red Beans & Rice
Jambalaya
Old Fashioned Bread Pudding (Preceding post)
French bread
That and cold beer is all you need, it can all be prepared ahead of time and there's something there for everyone.

Red Beans & Rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 bag frozen seasoning blend
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dried thyme
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
1 pound ham, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 package smoked sausage
1 pound dried red beans

Rinse and sort the beans, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let stand , covered, for at least an hour...overnight is okay.

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the seasoning blend and garlic for about five minutes. Add salt, cayenne, pepper, thyme and bay leaves, saute for another couple of minutes and then add the ham and sausage. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover and let everybody make friends, about ten minutes.

Drain the beans, add them to the pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for about two hours. Stir occasionally and add water if needed. THEN, and this is how you get that texture, every time you wander past the pot, take a wooden spoon and mash some of the beans against the side of the pot...you're aiming to mash about half. Cook for about another hour, stirring occasionally, until the beans are soft.

Serve over rice. I like the boil-in-a-bag stuff; I have friends who swear by Zatarain's.