The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Apple Brown Betty

8 slices wheat bread
3 apples, preferably Granny Smith, peeled and cored
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar, more if needed
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Generously butter a 9x13 rectangular baking dish.  Slice the bread into strips then slice the strips into diced pieces.  Cut the apples into slices, then dice them up too.  Place half the diced bread in the baking dish then sprinkle on half the diced apples and half the brown sugar.  Repeat with another layer of bread, apples and brown sugar.  Dot the top of the whole thing with pats of butter (the 2 sticks).  End by sprinkling 1/2 cup water all over the surface, a spoonful at a time.  Bake, covered with foil, for 45 minutes or until the apples are tender.  Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes to brown.  To serve, whip the heavy cream with the sugar until it's lightly beaten but still pourable.  Dish up the Apple Brown Betty onto a plate and drizzle the cream on top.

I have to say that this little dish was actually pretty good.  It reminded me of bread pudding so I need to make it for my youngest son next time he comes home.  It was super easy to prepare and made a good sized bowl full.  It tasted a lot like apple pie.  I even got my mother to try it.  She does not like any kind of dish with bread in it because she says it gets too soggy.  This is the same woman who will add a piece of cornbread to a glass of buttermilk.  YUCK!  Anyway, she tried it and said it was good but didn't ask for seconds.  My dad tried it too and he said that he would be willing to eat it again sometime.  I'm glad he liked it because he likes sweets but they don't like him and this was something he could tolerate pretty well.  HE likes to eat this weird concoction called 'milk toast'.  This has to be one of the worst things a person could eat.  My mother has to look away when he eats this stuff.  It is a piece of buttered toast placed in the bottom of a cereal bowl, sprinkled with sugar and warm milk poured on top.  It reminds me of those people who eat hot dogs competitively.  They dunk the buns in water so they can get more of them down.  I guess with a gallon of milk you could get down a loaf of bread?  Who knows?  All I know is that I will pass on the milk toast and have another helping of Apple Brown Betty!  Yum!!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Crash Hot Potatoes

12 whole new potatoes
Kosher salt to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
black pepper to taste
minced rosemary (or other herb of choice) to taste

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until fork tender for about 20 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place the potatoes on a baking sheet.  Using a potato masher, gently press down to mash each one.  Rotate the masher 90 degrees then mash again.  Drizzle the tops of the potatoes with olive oil.  Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and rosemary.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

Basically this is just another way to prepare and serve new potatoes.  I didn't find them to be particularly attractive to serve but they were easy to make and tasted pretty good as a side dish to the pulled pork.  It would be better to use golf ball size potatoes or bigger.  Some of mine were just a little bit too small and when I smashed them they pretty much fell apart.  The bigger ones did fine so now I know!

Again, I must apologize to my folks for being a no show at our dinner tonight!  Somehow I don't think my Dad is going to let me live this down any time soon.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks Spicy Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

2 onions, peeled and quartered
1 whole pork butt (pork shoulder roast)
Salt and black pepper to taste
one 11-ounce can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 12-ounce cans Dr. Pepper
4 tbsps packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Start by placing the onion quarters in the bottom of a large pot or dutch oven.  Place the pork butt on top of the onions and add salt and pepper to taste.  Pour the chipotle chiles over the top. Pour the Dr. Pepper over the pork butt and chiles.  Add the brown sugar to the liquid, stirring slightly to combine.  Cover the pot and cook for at least 6 hours.  Flip the roast 2 to 3 times during the cooking process.  It should be fork tender when done.  If not, return to the oven and cook for 30 minute intervals until fork tender.  Remove the roast from the pot and shred it completely.  Spoon the fat off the top of the liquid in the pot.  Return the meat to the pot and keep it in the juice until ready to serve.

Suggestions:  serve it on toasted deli rolls, pile it on nachos, use it to fill tacos or quesadillas, pizza toppings, serve it as is with mash potatoes.

I saw the Pioneer Woman make this on her cooking show and it looked really good.  I just got her new cookbook and this is the first recipe I am chewing and reviewing from it.  I have never used chipotle chiles in adobo sauce before and I wasn't sure where to begin to look for them in the grocery store but I'll tell you that at HEB they are on the isle where the ketchup and steak sauces are but in the Mexican can good section.  I just happen to look over on the shelf as I was going by and spotted them.  Otherwise I would have been looking for them where the canned tomatoes and peppers were.  When I opened the cans to add to this dish I could immediately see where this pulled pork is going to get it's BBQ flavor from.  These chiles smelt wonderful!  I was extremely curious as to how the Dr. Pepper was going to play it's part in this dish too.

The pork was ready right at 5 hours.  It was tender and full of flavor.  Almost a little too full of flavor.  The recipe calls for an 11 ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  Well, all I could find was 7 ounce cans so I bought two.  The pork butt I used was REALLY BIG so I figured it wouldn't hurt to add the extra 3 ounces by using both cans.  Trust me....you just want to use 11 ounces.  These chipotle peppers are HOT.  This pulled pork was a little spicy and definitely left it's calling card on your tongue!  Adding a little BBQ sauce cooled down the heat a little bit but  next time I will use just what is called for.  Sometimes we say if some is good more is better.  Not in this case.  Anyway the meat was tender, full of BBQ flavor and was great on a bun along with a side of Crashed New Potatoes.  Easy to prepare, makes a bunch dinner that would be good to serve if you are expecting a crowd.  Also would be good if you were having the guys over to watch football or something like that.  It is hearty good eatin'!

One more thought.....when you are trying out new recipes and you invite family members over to Chew and Review with you it's very important to not forget that they are coming!  Sorry Mom and Dad for the dinner delay, next time I'll stay home when I invite you over!!!

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana Soup

1 lb spicy Italian sausage - crumbled
1/2 lb smoked bacon chopped
1 qt. water
Two 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
2 large russet potatoes - scrubbed clean, cubed
2 garlic cloves - peeled, minced
1 medium onion - peeled, chopped
2 cups chopped kale or Swiss chard
1 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste

Brown sausage in a pan over medium to medium-high heat, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks.
Drain sausage and set aside.  Brown bacon in a pan over medium-high heat, not too crisp, drain and crumble.
Set bacon aside.  Place broth, water, garlic, potatoes and onion in a pot.  Simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender.  Add sausage and bacon to the soup.  Simmer  for 10 minutes.  Add kale and cream to pot.  Season with salt and pepper, heat thoroughly and serve.

This is probably my most favorite soup ever, well, with the exception of Campbell's Split Pea Soup!  Yum!  I first had this soup at Olive Garden and was instantly hooked.  I like it because even though it's a cream soup it is also a broth soup which to me takes out some of the guilt.  It's like a potato soup and yet it has a spiceyness to it.  It has the sausage and bacon and kale in it so it pretty much covers your basic food groups.  It's super easy to make and is good to serve before, with or as your meal.  It's a good way to get kale down your families' throats.  I tried fixing a pan of kale last night for dinner and it was NOT a hit.  Slip it into this soup and they will be half way through the bowl before they even ask "what's this green stuff".  Good soup, good for the soul!  Try it!!!

Guinness Irish Potato Salad

6 medium potatoes
4 slices bacon
1 tbsp onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tbsp sugar
8 fluid ounces Guinness beer
1/2 tsp Tabasco hot pepper sauce
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Photo provided by My Texas Today.com

Boil potatoes in medium-size saucepan until tender.  Peel and slice.  Fry bacon until crisp.  Break bacon into small pieces and mix with onion, celery and salt, set aside.  Stir melted butter and flour in a small saucepan until blended.  Add mustard and sugar.  Slowly stir in Guinness and hot pepper sauce.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Pour over potatoes.  Sprinkle with parsley.  Toss lightly and let stand 1 hour.  Add bacon mixture; toss gently and serve.

Okay, this is one of those recipes or moments where I go "OOOhhhhhhhhh" meaning that I just now realized something I missed in the beginning.  As I was typing this recipe I realized that it's called Guinness IRISH Potato Salad.   Hello!!!!!  Guinness is an Irish beer!  The guys in my family don't care for Guinness.  They say its too strong, too dark.  So I figured  I could switch out the Guinness for Shiner Bock.  Beer is beer, right?  If you ask me it looks like it would taste like horse pee!  Not that I've had that but that is what it appears to be like to me, I hate beer!  Anyway, I figured I would use the Shiner instead.  Well guess what, Shiner is made in Texas!  It's not Irish at all!  So I guess what I've created would now be called Shiner Texan Potato Salad!!!

This dish was fairly easy to make although I don't make a lot of potato salad.  I liked the bacon bits, onion, celery and salt mixture that you add to the salad at the end.  I could just eat this stuff with a spoon by itself!  The sauce was easy to make and you could taste the hint of beer in the salad although I think it needed more salt and some pepper.  It was a good potato salad but personally I like the mustard style potato salad myself, served warm.  That's the way my daddy likes it.  Then there is my mother's potato salad.  Her version is really good too, made with mayo, onions, pickles and that secret ingredient, love!

Roasted French Green Beans

1/2 loaf French baguette, torn into pieces
1 1/2 pound French green beans, trimmed
1 (8 ounce) package baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 cup onion, minced and divided
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp pepper
5 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. In the work bowl of a food processor, place baguette pieces; pulse bread to form fine crumbs.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine green beans, mushrooms and 1/4 cup onion.  In a small bowl, whisk together oil, mustard, 1 tsp salt and pepper;  pour over green bean mixture, tossing to coat.  Spread on prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through, stirring twice.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add remaining 3/4 cup onion; cook for 15 minutes or until onion is very soft.

Add bread crumbs and remaining 1/2 tsp salt to skillet; reduce heat to medium-low, cook for 20 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden brown and crunchy, stirring often.  Sprinkle over green beans and serve.

Reading this recipe before I started putting it together sounded a little complicated but it really wasn't that bad.  This is a new twist on green beans that I think would go great with any meat dish.  It would be a nice alternative to green bean casserole.  The whole grain mustard gave the beans a Dijon sort of taste while the mushrooms and toasted bread crumbs brought it a buttery goodness.  This would be nice to serve during your Easter lunch along with that ham we discussed earlier!  :)