Recipe

Potato Leek Soup (Vegan)

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Potato Leek Soup (Vegan)

We just created this recipe last night and started it in the Crock Pot.

Ingredients
2 Medium or 4 small red potatoes
4 Medium Leeks
6 small carrots
2 full heads of garlic
3 stalks of celery
1 – 4 quart Pacific Village vegetable stock (House brand of New Seasons Markets)
1 1/2 table spoons extra virgin olive oil
water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cut all vegetables into small chunks. In a frying pan use the olive oil to sauté the leeks, carrots, garlic and celery. This only takes a few minutes. When done the vegetables should still look like veggies, just a bit softer.

Potato Leek Soup (Vegan)

Combine all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Top off with water and cook on low for 8 hours.

Potato Leek Soup (Vegan)

I cheated by using minced garlic for one of the full heads. It’ll freeze well for use in the winter, although I like to freeze the soup then use it as ice in the cooler during camping trips. The recipe is currently vegan, but during a camping trip I’d probably add some kielbasa or pork sausage of some sort for extra proteins and to make the portions go further.

Carne Asada Recipe

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Carne Asada Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of Steak or roast cut into thin strips, per a person served*
1/2 Cup of Tequila

Directions:
Pour Tequila over the steak strips, do not use too much as it needs to be lightly coated not drowning. Pre heat a frying pan on high. Splash a few drops of Tequila in the pan, it should be sizzling crisply. Carefully place the covered strips of steak in the frying pan, being care to not spill any of the tequila on the stove. It can easily start a fire! It is a good idea to have a lid or a cookie sheet nearby to snuff the fire out it.

Cook for about 4-5 minutes then flip to the other side. Repeat. The meat should look a little shiny or greasy when you pull it out.

Garnish with Guacamole, sour cream, Spanish Rice, Beans or use in Fajitas, Burritos, Tacos, chimichungas, or any Mexican inspired dish.

*London Broil is good for this and is fairly cheap. Also if you have an Asian or Mexican food store nearby they’ll have thin slices of beef already cut. The butcher can usually slice steaks and roast this thin.

Bacon Wraps Recipe

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Bacon Wraps Recipe

This is a great appetizer, party snack, or hor d’oeuvres

Box of Toothpicks
1 Pound of Bacon, thick sliced is best
2 cans of Water Chestnuts
Thick Teriyaki Sauce*

Cut each piece of bacon in half. Wrap one piece around a water chestnut and secure with a toothpick. Place in bowl of teriyaki sauce, be sure to turn every once in a while so that it’s fully coated. Repeat until bacon and waterchestnuts are gone. Place on a cookie sheet covered with foil and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. The bacon should look cooked and be fairly stiff.

Serve as finger foods with teriyaki sauce as a side dip.

Alternatives:
Substitute flavored soy sauces or other thick sauces such as BBQ sauces. Asian inspired flavors work best.

Thinner cut bacon can be used, but can be overpowered by the sauce and the chestnuts. If you go this route, be sure to reduce the cooking time to ten minutes and don’t soak in the sauce.

*Or Teriyaki Glaze. Thinner teriyaki sauces can be used, but you’ll want to let them soak for a while longer.

Cheese Soup Recipes

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Cheese Soup Recipes

No clue where I got the basic recipe from. The Internet surely, but it’s been heavily modified so would be hard to find.

“Basic” Cheese Soup

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup thinly diced celery
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup thinly diced carrots
1/2 cup thinly diced onion
2 tablespoons Parmesan Romano Cheese
5 Cups Chicken or Vegetable Stock
6 Ounces Cheddar Cheese

Melt butter; saute vegetables until done but not browned. Blend in flour. Slowly add chicken or vegetable stock, bring to a boil; cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Blend in cheddar cheese, Parmesan-Romano cheese. Add Salt and Pepper to taste

Beer Cheddar variation
As above, add 1 bottle of beer (Dark Ales are best,) along with the cheese

Meat Variation
Add 1 cup chopped ham (Serrano or other salty thin sliced hams work best,) or 8-12 chopped pieces of Bacon, or 4 chopped Sausages, or one chopped Kielbasa

Extra Cheesy Variation
Add 1/2 Cup White Cheddar, 2 Ounces Blue Cheese, 6 ounces Pepper Jack

Mexican Variation
Add 4-6 chopped Jalapenos or Habaneros – Do NOT Saute and remove seeds to decrease the heat. You can bake them in the oven for 4-6 minutes at 400 to give them a crispy “fire roasted” texture/flavor.

Quick Variation
1 Can of Campbell’s Cheddar Soup prepared as on can
4 Ounces Grated Cheddar Cheese (a large handful)
2 Ounces Grated Jack or Mozzarella

Rick’s Variation
Add 1/2 Cup White Cheddar, 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce, six cloves of crushed garlic, Tabasco or Dave’s Insanity Sauce to taste

Garlic Crusted Roast Rib Recipe

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Garlic Crusted Roast Rib Recipe

Original recipe from New Seasons Markets:

I’ve since used the basic rub for beef ribs (really good,) beef brisket (good) and on beef roast cooked in a crock pot (good). My suggestion is to let the beef marinate in the rub over night for a much deeper taste.

Garlic Crusted Rib Roast

1 standing rib of roast (or any roast really)
20-30 cloves peeled garlic
2-3 Tbls Kosher Salt
2-3 Tbls freshly cracked black pepper
1 to 2 Tbls Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat Oven to 450F. Put garlic, salt and pepper in food processor or blender on low speed. Process until it’s a chunky paste. Drizzle in olive oil and process more. Place roast fat side up on rack in roasting pan. Pat dry with paper towels Rub Garlic Paste over all surfaces. Bake at 450F for 12-15 minutes per pound or until center reaches 125-130 degrees for medium rare. Remove from heat, cover with foil and let stands for 30-34 minutes before carving. The internal temperature will continue to rise 10-12 degrees. Serve with favorite sauce.

I personally go light on salt and heavy on pepper.

Suggested Sauces:

Brandy Peppercorn Cream Sauce

1Tbls brandy
1Tbls butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
2Tbls lemon juice
3Tbls virgin olive oil
crushed fresh peppercorns

Crack Peppercorns with flat of knife on cutting board. (put peppercorns on board, then place knife over them. Press down until peppercorns crack, thy do not need to be ground, but you want to release the flavor.) Whisk lemon juice olive oil, and brandy together, set aside. In a small sauce pan add butter, heavy cream and peppercorns. Simmer on low heat until it bubbles and all butter is melted. Stir in heavy cream and simmer for 5 minutes-constantly stirring and to keep it from burning. Drizzle across meat. Tuna or beef is recommended.