A Fall Dinner

Today was pretty cool and overcast. I was so glad I put Taco Soup on the menu for today when I made my menu last week and also had all the ingredients to make a new pumpkin bread recipe. The perfect meal for a chilly day!


Paula Deen's Taco Soup

2lb Ground beef
2 Cups diced onion
2 Cans Pinto beans
1 Can light kidney beans
1 Can corn, drained
1 Can Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 Can chopped tomatoes
1 Can tomatoes with chiles
2 Cans diced green chiles
1 Packet Taco seasoning
1 Packet Ranch Dressing Mix

Brown ground beef and onion together until beef is cooked through. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on low in crockpot for 6 hours or on stove on a low simmer for 1 hour.
Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, and jalapenos.



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

2 ½ cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2/3 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9×5-inch loaf pans or three 8×4-inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together canned pumpkin, oil, eggs and 2/3 cup water until well combined and stir into dry ingredients, just until the dry ingredients are moistened and no dry streaks remain. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter in prepared pans.

Bake the bread for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Run a knife gently around the edge of the bread and turn the bread out, right side up, onto a wire rack to cool completely.

*Recipe taken from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Both girls gobbled up the Pumpkin bread! The fact that pumpkin is so good for you makes me feel better about serving them dessert tonight. Plus the big grin Aubrey flashed me when she placed the first piece in her mouth made her momma's heart melt.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

The past six months or so I have been searching for the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. I like chewy cookies fresh out of the oven. Most cookies turn dry and crumbly the next day which I'm not a fan of. I also like them a bit thicker, not thin and wimpy. I found a lot of the cookies that claimed to be plump and moist had a lot of baking soda which gave them a funky taste in the back of your mouth. I made a new CC cookie recipe yesterday and was really impressed. I had one of the leftover cookies today and they were still chewy! Yes! There are a couple more steps, but don't let that scare you off. Oh, and I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, I wasn't about to mix them up by hand!

This recipe makes 16 large cookies. They claim the larger cookies makes them cook more evenly, thus getting a chewy cookie all around. Also, I didn't brown the butter all the way. I was melting it in a smaller pan and got tired of waiting for it to brown, they were still delish. Also, the reason for the mixing and waiting, mixing and waiting of the butter and sugar is to melt the sugars and keep the cookies from browning too quickly in the oven.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  
• 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunk

• 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
• 2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
• 3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
• 4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
• 5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

*Taken from America's Test Kitchen