Fagioli Soup

Italian Pasta Fagioli Soup
3 stars

It's a cold, wet, snowy day here - yes, snow in October! - so I wanted to warm the family up with some soup. I had all most of the ingredients for fagioli and wanted to give it a try.  This recipe claims to be as good as Olive Garden's soup.

Fagioli is a wonderful beef based Italian soup. There are quite a few variations; my favorite had sweet Italian sausage crumbles and barley in it.  I had high hopes for this recipe but I had my doubts when it called for 'one jar of spaghetti sauce.'   Um. Okay.

For the most part, I followed the recipe. Here's what I changed:

- I thought I had penne pasta. I didn't. I had to substitute half a bag of egg noodles.
- I ended up needing to add three or four more cans of beef broth to keep it from becoming too thick.
- I finely cut up stewing beef instead of using ground beef.
- I sauteed the beef in about two teaspoons of minced garlic. Mmmm garlic.  Let's stop for a moment and ponder the wonderfulness of garlic. Mmmmmm.
- I didn't have kidney beans or carrots so I ignored that part.
- In addition to the egg noodles, I added 1 cup of uncooked quick barley to the soup and let it come to a boil.

It's not a bad soup but it tastes like spaghetti sauce. Hrm. Wonder why.

I'll keep looking for a better recipe. This one isn't bad, it just wasn't what I was hoping it would be.

- Sharon

BCD!

I know that got your attention, Sharon. :)

But let's get real now. BCD = Buffalo Chicken Dip. Words can't describe how divine this stuff is. If you haven't heard or tried it, what damn rock have you been living under?! There are varying recipes of it, but this is how I make it.


The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients
1 lb Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing
3/4 cup Texas Pete Hot Sauce
2 cups shredded mexican blend cheese

Directions
Spread the cream cheese in the bottom of a baking dish. Combine shredded chicken and hot sauce and spread over the cream cheese. Top with the ranch dressing and then shredded cheese. Bake At 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is nice and bubbly and beginning to brown. Serve with tortilla chips.

So what's this have to do with Pinterest? Well, I've seen so many recipes crop up over the weeks all involving this lovely concoction or that are similar that I've decided to compile a list of buffalo chicken recipes that look like a must try. Enjoy!


Buffalo Chicken Bites: http://pinterest.com/pin/171024684/



Buffalo Chicken Eggrolls: http://pinterest.com/pin/191707457/



Buffalo Chicken Tacos: http://pinterest.com/pin/176251102/



Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas: http://pinterest.com/pin/180848017/



Buffalo Chicken Pizza: http://pinterest.com/pin/182292482/

-Jenni

White Bean Chowder

White bean chowder
3 stars

I was really excited to make this soup. I've been in a soup mood lately. You know... really craving the warm liquid that makes you feel toasty warm from your toes to your hair roots.  However, I never make soup.  I make chili on occasion, but soup really isn't something I make.  This chowder recipe spoke to me.

It's a good recipe but I wasn't prepared so I had to scramble as I assembled everything.  Here's how I modified the original:

- I mashed the beans with my hand.  After rinsing them and shaking off the excess water, I dove in and got messy.
- I didn't have frozen corn so I used canned.
- I had baby carrots in the fridge. Grating them on a hand grater is not something I'd recommend.
- I didn't cook it until the celery was soft but I used a small dice so it was a nice, unexpected crunch.
- I didn't have stock or broth so I used bullion. I added two bullion to 8 oz of water.
- It needed salt.

If I make this again, I'll use three cans of beans and more veggies. This would also be good with left over chicken tossed in.

Reality: Okay recipe and I'll make it again although I did make a few adjustments.

- Sharon