Italian Wedding Soup

This is my low carb version of creamy italian wedding soup. We love this soup and it's so so easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 box (quart?) chicken broth
1 head cauliflower (or a bag, frozen)
1 pint heavy cream
1 pound sweet italian sausage
3 cloves garlic
1 big onion
a pot full of chopped curly kale
water
salt, pepper

Here's what you do:
*Pour the entire box of chicken broth into a medium pot, break up cauliflower and place in pot, cook on medium/high then medium/low until cauliflower is tender/smooshie.
*While that cooks, chop onion and garlic, set aside.  Then chop the kale in big pieces like you'd cut romaine for a ceasar salad.  It may feel tough now, but it gets limp and is easy to spoon once cooked.
*Put a swirl of olive oil in a big pot and heat, then add the peeled sausages, breaking up into large chunks, about 3/4 inch each.  Keep stirring so it doesn't stick and toss in a chopped onion and chopped garlic.  Once this is cooked, turn down to low.  Drain excess oil if necessary.
*Smash cauliflower in the chicken broth with a potato masher.  It doesn't have to be creamed, but pretty well smooshie, which thickens the soup.  Throw this into the pot with the italian sausage and stir.
*Add water to bring pot to half full.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
*Pack kale in until no more will fit in pot. It will cook down!  Cook on med heat until the kale is soft and cooked down into the liquid (maybe a half hour or more).
*Add pint of heavy cream.  Never allow any soup with milk product to boil!  It will turn grainy.
*Now serve!

Southern Pork Pot in the Pressure Cooker

Southern Pork Pot in the Pressure Cooker
I have this wonderful basket of vegetables on my kitchen counter, just waiting to be cooked.  On top was a pint of fresh okra, and beneath that were white boniato sweet potatoes that I grew myself.  Both are pretty much southern fare, so I decided to do a little mix/match and create a meal.

I put a small pork roast in the pressure cooker to be browned a bit in hot oil, lid off.  Next went a couple of cups of water, a personal sized can of tomato juice, and a big bowl of cut up vegetables: a huge white sweet potato with skin, cut into wedges, one big carrot, a small onion, about a dozen spears of sliced up okra, two very ripe tomatoes, a 6 ounce can of tomato juice, salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, and celery seed.  I have no idea how it will taste, but most of my creations are usually pretty good.

prepared ingredients

browned pork roast on top of veggies and liquids

  I closed the lid, brought the fire up to start the pressure, which pops up the safety lock.  Once the lock is up, the steam is focused on the little rattler on the top of the pot.  It sounds like a train rattling down the tracks to me.

It smells wonderful!

After about a half hour of puffing, I'll turn off the burner and let it cool down for about fifteen minutes.  The safety lock (a little metal stick that keeps the lid securely shut) will retract and then I can open the lid and serve dinner.  I like a pressure cooker...it is the polar opposite of a crock pot, but just as wonderful.  Okay - Once finished, I fished out the solids from the pot and added corn starch to make a thin gravy.  Dinner was VERY good.  Too strange for David who doesn't care for any southern veggie, but Mark, Amanda and I dug in.

Homemade Kettle Corn

a giant kettle korn setup - not my kitchen

Today as Mark and I watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lose to the Saints, I took a kitchen break and whipped up my own version of kettle corn.  Here is my recipe:

You will need-
mid-sized pot with lid
popcorn oil
popcorn
sugar
popcorn salt
big bowl
large spoon

Instructions-

• In a mid sized pot with lid over high heat, swirl enough butter flavored popcorn oil to mostly coat the bottom of the pot.
• Add 4 kernels of corn and cover.  Wait to hear four pops.
• Add 1/4 cup popcorn kernels, cover and swirl just a few seconds to moisten the corn.
• Immediately add 2 teaspoons sugar.
• Cover and shake pan over high heat until popping stops.
• Dump into big bowl and give a few shakes of fine popcorn salt (to taste).  Stir well with a large spoon.

I have a glass top stove and it worked fine.  In fact, I think shimmy-shaking the pan was much easier on the smooth surface.