One thing I have been doing recently is processing and cooking an entire turkey mostly for it’s potential as a preprepared ingredient in recipes. You could also use chicken thighs or breasts to come up with the meat for this recipe. I’m still on my fascination with colloids. For this recipe you start out basically with a white sauce. You let it thicken while you cook your potatoes. Then you add your precooked meat and remove it from the heat. There’s really not too many ingredients in this soup. Not nearly as complicated as the end result in the book, “Stone Soup.” The end result is a creamy creation that’s very satisfying. Anyways on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 12 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup cake or all purpose flour
• 3/4 gallon skim milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 lbs gold potatoes
• 1 qt precooked and chopped turkey or chicken
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• Water for cooking

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in 5 to 6 qt heavy bottomed pot.
2. Add flour and make a roux.
3. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat 5 to 10 minutes or until slightly browned.
4. Add milk slowly reducing heat to medium low.
5. Homogenize broth with whisk.
6. Add salt and pepper.
7. Chop up potatoes into bite size pieces.
8. Add to broth and allow to come to a boil.
9. Add water and cream to make volume approximately 5 quarts.
10. Bring to a boil.
11. When potatoes are soft, remove from heat and add meat.
12. After cooling slightly serve and enjoy.

So I was reading through my Google news feed, and I come across an article about uses for your cast iron skillet. Some of them are quite involved like shepherds pie or chicken pot pie. One I have never heard of before, which seems surprising to me now is German pancakes or a Dutch baby. From subsequent articles I’ve read about them they were first made in a Seattle restaurant over one hundred years ago. I also found additional recipes where the authors tried to create savory versions or kind of a breakfast pizza. Their versions all had really expensive cheeses I didn’t feel like paying for so I made my own. A Dutch baby is an eggy pastry that is unique in its own right. Anyways on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz chorizo
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• Hot sauce, salt, and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup cake or all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In 10 1/2 inch cast iron skillet remove chorizo from casing, crumble, and fry.
3. Remove from pan and set aside. Retain oily pan.
4. In small mixing bowl beat eggs.
5. Add flour, baking powder, buttermilk, and spices.
6. Mix well.
7. Melt butter in cast iron skillet.
8. Pour batter in pan.
9. Sprinkle cheese and chorizo crumbles over top and place in prepared oven.
10. Cook for 20 minutes.
11. Turn oven off.
12. Allow to remain in oven for an additional 5 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and serve.
14. Enjoy!

Here’s a recipe that’s not too terribly complicated. It uses all ingredients you can get at the grocery store. I find most often lately in order to satisfy my creativity I have to make my own ingredients. Sometimes I can spend the good part of a day coming up with something that I thought the world was missing. It makes some of the recipes on my blog really involved to create. Anyways this is pretty straightforward. On to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 2/3 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup dried milk
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 10 small candy canes

Instructions:

1. Mix milk, cream, dry milk, sugar, and extract in medium saucepan over low heat.
2. Pasteurize ingredients by bringing them to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Allow to cool on stove.
4. Further cool in Refrigerator for at least two hours.
5. Smash candy cane and pre-chill in freezer. I used a rolling pin.
6. Prepare ice cream in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s directions.
7. Either serve immediately as soft serve or place in freezer and serve later as hard serve.