Quick Bread with Olives

I was thinking since its cold and wintry outside, my kitchen needed to smell warm & cozy inside so of course the first thing that popped into my  mind was some baked bread for dinner tonight . I am fixing chicken & rice casserole and what could be better than a quick bread... This is an olive loaf topped with a sprinkle of grated cheese. Does certain food just sound good on a cold winter day to you?

 The recipe is a Basic quick Bread dough. I added four different flavors of olives, Green with pimento, green with stuffed almonds, Green with stuffed jalapeno peppers& garlic and plain black olives.Then I added some thyme leaves and some cumin and about 1/2 tsp of capers. I didn't measure, Just eyeballed it.. The olives were salty so no need to add salt, but if you do use it sparingly. I used a mixture of cheese, Monterrey Jack & Medium Cheddar. Baked about 50 minutes in a 350 oven and that's it... Spread a bit of butter and had my husband try it.. He thinks the texture is similar to cornbread.. I can live with that.. and I think serving slices warm or cold will do fine.  Do you have a favorite savory bread to serve with   soups & casseroles? I'd love to try one of yours...

Split Pea Soup Time

 Its soup time... Today it was Split Pea soup, one of my favorites.
Easy to make and ever so good.
I usually start with a ham hock, but I only had panchetta in my freezer so that does me fine.     I fried it a bit and added it to the pieces of ham that I had cubed. Set aside. Poured about 1  1/2 cups of dry green peas into enough water to cover them. Added a sprinkling of salt ( not too much if  not sure of how salty the ham& panchetta are ) add a bit of pepper & celery seed, you can add more salt more later if necessary.   I also usually use a few chopped up carrots but today  used parsnips..And about 3/4 cup chopped onion.  

 Cook those together until peas are tender.. add the ham & panchetta bits and continue cooking until soup thickens about 20 minutes on medium heat.  Now doesn't that look good?  How about adding some crusty sour dough bread...


This makes a nice quick supper and leftovers are yummy too..
Bon appetite!

My Mama's Pressure Cooked Beef Stew

 Is that Dinner I smell cooking? If you are at my house right now it sure is.. and  It is My Mama's Pressure Cooked Beef Stew.  I have many memories of my childhood and one of them includes the dinner table.. and I never missed a meal.. did I say "I love to eat"?
One of my favorite dinners was Mama's Stew. We were not a wealthy family but we didn't know that..growing up I don't remember ever going "out  for dinner". Dinner was always at home. We all sat around the chrome kitchen table with Mom & Dad. ( Holidays were different, that was Family Relative times and we had many dinners with them. ) that's Another story..... 
With 3 sisters, we had our share of hand me downs when it came to our clothes. Being the oldest of course I felt lucky  to be first in line..and that also went for coming to the dinner table. My mama made the best soups. ie: Potato, Split Pea and Beef Stew. I was always a bit timid about cooking with my pressure cooker, ( mama warned us many times about staying away from the stove when she was cooking.) I quickly learned how to manage the cooker when I had my own family to cook for.. I always thought it might blow up but  I never had that happen. Just remember to follow your manufactures instructions when releasing the lid and follow the cooking time. My cooker is really easy to use. It's a"Kitchen Pro"and   I have had it for years. So here today, is a cold Pre-snow day and beef stew sure sounded good. ( I hope there are left overs)

Here is her recipe:



My Mama’s Pressure Cooker Beef Stew


Basic Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
1 small onion, diced 
2 T minced garlic
2 pounds cubed beef stew meat 
5 carrots, peeled and diced 
5 medium  potatoes, peeled and cubed 
4 ribs of cubed celery
2 cups vegetable stock or water 
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions
Heat the oil in the bottom of the pressure cooker over medium-high heat. If your cooker has an insert, remove it and cook directly in the bottom of the pot. Add the onion, garlic and beef, and cook until browned on the outside. 
Stir in the stock or water, close the lid, and secure the pressure regulator. Heat until you start to hear sizzling, then reduce the heat to medium, and set your timer for 20 minutes. If you have an adjustable pressure regulator, set it for 10 pounds of pressure. 
Meanwhile, place the potatoes carrots, celery in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Season to taste. Bring to a slow boil, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.   This whole process should take about the same amount of time as the rest of the stew. 
When the 20 minutes are up, release the pressure from the pot according to the manufacturer's instructions - mine needs to sit under cold running water for 5 minutes until the lid can be released. 
Remove the lid, and place the pot over medium heat. Add the  potatoes, carrots, celery to the stew meat, cook until vegetables are tender. Stir the cornstarch into a small amount of cold water to make a thickened gravy. Stir this into the stew, and cook for a few minute. Serve hot with biscuits or dumplings. Yummmy!

Found my way back...

I am ready to get back into the kitchen..boy it's been awhile hasn't it?  I have been away way too long. First I had to re-organize my space. Being away so much  things seem to get put away in the wrong places.( My husband is a great cook, but he doesn't put things where I do.) Do you have this problem?

Next, I must defrost the freezer a bit, at least scape down the accumulation of frost. * I guess the door must have been left ajar a few hours.

Now, I think Stuffed Peppers sound good for our dinner tonight.  Hamburger and tomato sauce thawing for the stuffing and found some nice wild rice in the pantry. I will post the recipe and pictures later.  The weather is changing and I think a hot meal is in order.* Any leftovers will be appreciated tomorrow for lunch. Do you like leftovers? Sometimes I do....and I have noticed somethings just don't get eaten, they get forgotten and pushed to the back of the refrigerator... You know how that goes.