Zuppa Toscana

This is my version of the soup made famous by Olive Garden. It's very hearty and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground Italian sausage (I used turkey sausage)
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 small to medium potatoes, diced (I used red potatoes)

1/2 small star pasta (optional)

5-6 cups water

2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1-2 tbs chicken bullion flakes (adjust to your taste)
garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

2-3 cups kale leaves, torn into small pieces (no stems)

2 cups half and half or heavy cream

Instructions:
In a large stock pot or dutch oven, brown sausage on medium-high heat until no longer pink. Add onion, potato, star pasta and water. Stir well. Reduce heat to medium. Add red pepper flakes, chicken bullion, garlic, salt and pepper. Simmer on medium +/- 15 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low. Stir in half and half and kale. Simmer another 10-15 minutes on medium-low heat. If soup is too thick, add water in 1-cup increments until desired consistency is reached. I like my soup fairly thick and chunky (I hate the word chunky!).

Delicious served with garlic toast!

Em's Chicken and Dumplings

Every time I make these, I make them a little bit different. I'm trying to come up with a standard recipe, though because I forget from time to time exactly what I did. The last time I made these which was for Dave's birthday this year, this is what I did to the best of my memory :).

Ingredients:
1 chicken (I bought one that was already cut into pieces by the meat department - 2 breasts, 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings)
Salt, pepper, garlic
Enough water to cover by 2-3 inches (this will be your broth)

1 can cream of mushroom or cream of celery condensed soup
1 can cream of chicken with herbs condensed soup
1 onion, chopped
Chicken bullion flakes, to taste

Dumplings: (I double or triple this recipe)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS butter
1/2 cup milk
Optional: 1 TBS dried parsley flakes

Instructions:
In a large stock pot or dutch oven, boil chicken until done in water seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic. Take chicken out of broth and let cool enough to de-bone. Shred/chop chicken and add back to broth. Add chopped onion, cream soups, and chicken bullion to your taste. Season accordingly with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Let soup come up to a simmer.

Mix together dumpling dough. Pinch of bite size pieces and drop in simmering broth. Let cook 5-10 minutes without stirring. Before serving, lightly stir to incorporate dumplings. Stirring too much or too hard will cause dumplings to disintegrate and break up.

Last time I ended up adding more dumplings to the broth later because everybody loves the dumplings.

Buttery Bread Machine Yeast Rolls***

Oh my! These require some effort, but they are DIVINE! They are the perfect roll for any special holiday meal.

Ingredients:
1 cup warm milk, 70-80 degrees F (I use reconstituted powdered milk)
1/2 cup butter, very soft
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp yeast

Instructions:
Put all ingredients in the pan of your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Choose dough setting. Once dough is finished kneading, turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide into 24-28 equal sized portions. Roll into balls. Place balls in a lightly greased 9X13 baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place 1 1/2 - 2 hours for maximum size and fluffiness. Bake at 350 for 13-16 minutes or until light golden brown on top. Brush with softened butter after they come out of the oven for extra yumminess.

***I'm sure you could also make these without the bread machine. I haven't tried them this way, but this is what I would do if making them the "normal" way. Convert the bread machine yeast into the equivalent amount of regular yeast, letting it bloom in the warm milk for 3-5 minutes and then use a mixer with a dough hook to mix/knead. Let the dough knead for 7-10 minutes in the mixer or knead by hand for the same amount of time.

Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

We love cheesecake around here. And this time of year pumpkin cheesecake is always appropriate at a gathering. This recipe is a little bit easier than the full-size recipe that calls for a springform pan and water bath.

Regarding the crust:
I started out intending to use the prepared graham cracker crust just as is, but when I opened it, it was all broken from being dropped at the store. No problem. All I did was dump the pieces into a bowl, crush back into fine crumbs and add a few tablespoons of melted butter and a few tablespoons of brown sugar. Then I stirred well, poured the mix back into the pan and remolded into a crust. The result was crunchier and more delicious than even a homemade crust.

Ingredients:
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon *
1/4 tsp ground ginger *
1/4 tsp ground cloves *
2 eggs
1 15-oz can pumpkin
1 large ready graham cracker pie crust (not the standard size which is too small)

* If you prefer to use pumpkin pie spice, substitute 2 tsp for the cinnamon, ginger and cloves.

Instructions:
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and spices and beat until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined after each addition. Fold/stir in pumpkin. Pour mixture into crust (see description at top of post). Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool for 1 hour. Refrigerate for several hours before serving. Garnish as desired. Keep stored in refrigerator.