CHEESEBURGER SOUP
After a cookout we had lots of cooked ground beef left over. I found this recipe for cheeseburger soup. I think it might have originally come from Taste of Home. It was very good and filling!
1/2 pound ground beef (turkey would even work!)
3/4 c. chopped onion
3/4 c. shredded carrots
3/4 c. diced celery
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
4 tbsp. butter, divided
3 c. chicken broth
4 c. peeled and diced potatoes
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. Velveeta cheese, cubed (I used 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese)
1 1/2 c. milk
3/4 tsp/ salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. sour cream (plus more for garnish)
1. Brown the ground beef in a saucepan. Drain and set aside.
2. In the same saucepan add 1 tbsp butter and add onion, shredded carrots, parsley flakes, basil and celery. Saute until tender.
3. Add the broth, potatoes and beef and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4. In a small skillet melt remaining butter (3 tbsp) and add the flour. Cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to the soup and bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
5. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream.
POUND CAKE
I would like to share my absolute favorite, go-to, pound cake recipe. My trick is to always have plenty of butter in the fridge/freezer ('cause who doesn't) and to have a spare few bricks of cream cheese stashed away in the freezer. Having those two items, you can whip this pound cake up in no time! The best part is...it makes two loaves! (One for you and one for a friend? Yes, until you taste it, then you will sneak the other one into the closet and finish it in 45 seconds:) This is Martha Stewart's cream cheese pound cake.
3 sticks unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1- 8 oz package cream cheese (at room temperature)
3 c. sugar
6 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
non-stick cooking spray
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. With mixer on low, add flour and salt in two additions, beating until just combined.
2. Generously coat two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans (1 1/2 quarts each) with cooking spray; immediately pour in batter (pan will seem full). Tap pans on work surface to eliminate any large air bubbles.
3. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out almost clean, 60 to 75 minutes (if the tops begin to brown too quickly, tent with aluminum foil).
4. Cool 10 minutes in the pan. Turn out the cakes; cool completely, with top sides up, on a wire rack.
Prep: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Yield: Makes 2
I served my pound cake recently with a blueberry sauce. It was the recipe I use for blueberry pie filling, though not as thick. See that recipe below.
Blueberry Pie Filling
3 c. blueberries
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. corn starch
1/4 c. water
Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan over medium heat. Keep stirring until blueberries have mixed. (You might want to mash them around a little bit too.) Can be thickened further by adding more corn starch.
