Pesto Brushed Biscuits

As I sat around this afternoon torturing myself watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives I wasn’t really sure what to do for dinner. After watching about 2 hours of the show I decided that I could not end the day without a southern style biscuit!

Not that biscuits went well in any way with the left over eggplant parm and pasta with fresh pesto sauce I planned on serving, but why not whip up a batch, eat one and then force the rest on my co-workers tomorrow.

As I was preparing this evening meal I thought, “I wish I had some jam, or something to dip my biscuit in.” Then, sitting next to me on the counter, the fresh pesto..woolaa, a match made in kitchen heaven.

Biscuits, pie crust, dough’s, all kind of seem intimidating but if you have a little bit of patience they are actually extremely easy to make fresh.

Traditional Biscuit Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons butter, cubed

3/4 cup milk

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Cut butter into flour mix until it begins to look like wet sand. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and slowly add milk. Lightly mix dough with your fingers. Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter.

Pesto Brushed Biscuits  

The Makings of Eggplant Parm Soup

Eggplant Parmesan Soup

8 Cups Chicken Stock
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large eggplant, diced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
salt to taste
1 cup garlic croutons
1/2 mozzarella cheese or Parmesan cheese 

In a large soup pot, heat oil on medium heat, add onions and garlic and saute for 5 minutes, add eggplant and herbs and saute another 10 minutes, until eggplant is soft and starting to break down. Add crushed tomatoes and chicken stock, stir and allow to simmer on medium heat for 1 hour. After one hour and soup is thick and reduced. Serve topped with croutons and cheese. Serves 6 people

Tasted just like eggplant Parmesan without the high calorie steps of frying the eggplant and layering with cheese! A must try :)!

Inspired Vegetable Soup

A long time ago, when I was about 12 years old, my family took a trip to Portugal. We have some family that lives there so part of the trip was spent with them. I remember seeing and experiencing many new things, I remember the food and in particular I remember a soup that was prepared for us by a friend of my cousins, Donzilia. All it was was a simple vegetable soup, but the way that the flavors melted together was so comforting and satisfying. I was recently thinking of our trip to Portugal and possibly going back someday and though I would try to recreate this simple, yet so yummy, vegetable soup.

Simple Vegetable Soup garnished with Fried Okra

8 cups prepared chicken stock, I used homemade

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium potatoes, cubed

4 carrots, diced

1 tbsp salt

½ tbsp black pepper

2 cooked chicken breasts, finely shredded.

 

In a large pot add oil, heat on medium for 1 minute. Add onions, garlic, carrots and potatoes, stir and saute for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and Saute another 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and allow to boil until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and blend soup until pureed (I used an immersion blender but you could easily transfer vegetables into a regular blender). Bring soup back to a boil, reduce to low and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, until a little bit thick. Add shredded chicken and serve.