Caldo Verde, Portuguese Green Soup

This is a simple one with only three main ingredients. Meant to be a main dish but certainly could be a side without the linguica … making it vegan. Kale is often used in Portuguese cuisine and doesn’t fail to be the delicious star.

The preparation and cooking is short in duration making this a perfect after work meal on these cold winter nights.

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Easy Cheesecake Bars

This rich and sweet Cheesecake Bar is low in sugar. Children love these too! 

This easy recipe whips up quickly. Usually baked in an 8 inch square baking dish … I am always looking for a baking method to change up the presentation. I am not sure the baking method created a more attractive outcome this time. So next time I will be baking in the square baking dish.

Enjoy this no fuss dessert. One of our family favorites.

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Date Night Salmon and Pasta

Just in time for tonight!

This salmon dish is so easy. Team this with a great wine and the dessert from my previous post and you have an unforgettable Valentine’s dinner.

Cook fresh salmon … see my very first post if you need a little help. Or use that Costco frozen salmon fillet and cook according to the directions.

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Red Wine Dessert Sauce For Anytime

 

 

This is an impressive topping for pound cake, sponge cake or vanilla ice cream. It’s so simple, only 10 minutes start to finish. And you probably have all the ingredients. I always keep pound cake in the freezer for a quick dessert. If you have the time my sponge cake is wonderful!

Just place small squares of the cake into a dessert dish … place a small scoop of ice cream on top and add the wine sauce over the top of both.

Happy Valentine’s Day

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Country Cornbread

Is cornbread a personal thing? There are so many cornbread recipes … very good ones. Many have a similar sweet cake like texture and taste. But I long for the recipe my mother made … Crunchy  crust with just a little bit of gritty texture. Not a bad gritty but something like the gritty bottom layer of the best handmade pizza crusts. The texture of cornbread means everything. Try this recipe and see if you don’t agree.

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Chili Beans Country Cornbread

Chili Beans Country Cornbread

These Chili Beans have a little bit of everything … definitely a main dish. Spicy and hot if you are into it. OR the dish can be tamed. It’s up to you. This recipe is easy but does take time to cook to bring out the flavors. After the first few steps it can be cooked in a crockpot if you have one large enough. This recipe tends to grow. I suggest an eight quart stock pot just to provide even heating and easy stirring … no worry of spilling over.

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Easy Spice Cake Donuts

Here’s another Perry family recipe, Spice Cake Donuts. Definitely not labor intensive. Wonderful with milk or coffee. What a great breakfast surprise for the family … Fresh, golden, homemade Spice Cake Donuts. Thank you second cousin Margaret and forgive me for changing up the recipe just a bit.

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Stuffed Pasta Shells And a Movie

This vegetarian recipe whips up in minutes. So, you’ll have plenty of time to see a movie in the same evening …  at a theatre or in the comfort of your own home. Have you ever heard of The Shell Seekers with Maximilian Schell?

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Chunky Root Soup Just Happens to Be Vegan

Root soup is a winter necessity on these icy cold days. It’s a little early for Saint Patrick’s Day but you might find this served along with corned beef or beef brisket. It’s just a wonderful meal all alone.  Light enough to have several servings.

Eat it chunky like this or use a blender to give it a creamy texture. I prefer it this way.

If you use prepared vegetable broth this can be ready to eat in 30-40 minutes. I like making my own vegetable broth … my recipe in the previous post. This is a rich recipe not requiring butter or chicken broth. Absolutely the best!

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Vegetable Stock Or Vegetable Broth

From This …

To This!

Often vegetable stock and broth are used interchangeably in recipes. So what is the difference? After researching these two, stock vs broth, it is still a little unclear. But I like to make it simple. My take … The biggest difference is in the seasonings. Broth has seasonings making it immediately palatable while stock is ready to be seasoned and manipulated in a recipe. This recipe may resemble a broth more closely. I use this broth routinely for recipes that ask for either … Even in recipes asking for chicken or beef stock or broth. I do pay close attention to salt and other seasonings when adding this broth to recipes.

I am preparing this recipe specifically to use in a chunky root soup, next post. The nice thing about this recipe … You can add vegetables you have on hand. However, these basic ingredients are required … onions, celery and carrots … and for me, garlic too.

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