Big Green Egg Pizza

Mitch's parents gave him a Big Green Egg for Christmas.  We have a couple of friends who have one, and Mitch really liked them.  His dad bought one a few months ago, and that was all it took.  Mitch was in love with them, and he couldn't wait to get one.  Mitch's dad built a beautiful wooden table to hold the egg.  Over Christmas, we watched lots of BBQ Pitmasters to see how the pros cook their meat.  Mitch picked up lots of tips and was ready to try his first meat.  We did baby back ribs first, and to be safe, we just invited 2 friends over.  We warned them ahead of time that the outcome could be questionable.  They cooked for over 4 hours, and I thought they were delicious.  On New Years Eve, we had a few friends from the neighborhood over for dinner.  Mitch really wanted to do a beef tenderloin, but the $150 price tag was out of the question.  We settled for a pork tenderloin.  Mitch's friend Joe had a great dry rub recipe we used, and the meat turned out excellent.  It couldn't have been any more perfect.  One thing we've heard everyone cook on their BGE is pizza.  We decided to try pizza Friday night, and we asked Mitch's parents to join us.  I bought the pizza dough from Publix's bakery.  It's in their refrigerator section.  You just let it sit out for 1 hour, and then you roll it out to the size you want.  We added ground beef, peperoni, onions, mushrooms, olives, and 2 types of cheese to our pizza.  We were a little nervous, so I made a salad to eat just in case the pizza wasn't edible.  To our surprise and delight, the pizza was so yummy.  It had an excellent smoky taste, and the crust cooked perfectly.  Mitch's dad said it was the best pizza he'd ever had!  It was pretty tasty though!  Here's a picture of the pizza. 

Curly Noodle Soup

I found the BEST chicken noodle soup recipe.  My secret pal at work gave me a cook book of all soups one year, and I decided to try the Curly Noodle Chicken Soup.  I needed a recipe to take to a friend who had a baby last January, and the recipe looked like something that would be good.  I wanted to make it first to make sure it tasted good before I made it for someone else.  I loved how it tasted, and it was really easy too.  Mitch isn't a big soup guy, but he likes this recipe too.  Since then, I've made it a few times.  We had it tonight for dinner, and it was just as delicious as the first time. Here's how you make it if you are interested.

I use my food chopper to dice the onion and celery really small.  I also bought the carrots that were already sliced to eliminate one step.  Chop the chicken into 1 inch pieces.  Saute with 2 TBS of butter and 2 TB of Olive Oil.

After about 5 minutes, add a mixture of flour, oregano, basil, and pepper and mix well.

Then add 1 can of diced tomatoes and 3 14.5 ounce cans of chicken broth.  I usually buy the box of 48 ounces instead of 3 individual cans.

It looks really juicy when you add the broth, but you'll need the juice to cook the noodles at the end.  After you bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Then uncover and bring to a boil again.  Add the tri-colored rotini pasta.  Allow it to simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes.

Here is the final product right before I served it.

So yummy! I made sour cream biscuits to go with the soup.  It was the perfect "almost Fall" dinner.

Curly Noodle Chicken Soup
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
4 celery ribs, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 TBS butter
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp pepper
3 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
6 ounces uncooked tricolor spiral pasta (I probably use double this amount)

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, saute the chicken, onion, celery and carrots in butter and oil for 5 minutes.  Stir in flour, basil, oregano and pepper until blended.  Gradually add the broth and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour.  Return to a boil; stir in pasta.  Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered for 12-15 minutes or until the pasta is tender. 

Yields - 9 servings

Cheshire Fun

I love how things always work out.  When Mitch and I were looking for a house to buy in 2008, we looked everywhere.  I never thought we'd find our home.  We knew a couple of people who lived in Cheshire, and there happened to be a few houses for sale.  We found one that suited our style, and we made the purchase.  Over the next few years, several of our friends joined the neighborhood.  We love being so close to our friends, being able to go through the same seasons of life together, and getting to see each other on a weekly basis.  Sometimes it's just a wave riding down the street, but it's nice to see familiar faces.  When we do get together, it's always a great time.

Amy organized a progressive dinner with some of the couples in Cheshire.  We had a blast rotating to each house, and we definitely ate yummy food.  Since NO ONE took any pictures of the events, I'll just share a few recipes from the night.  We promised to do another progressive dinner, so next time I'll get some pictures.

Here is the invitation Amy emailed us.

We started out at our house for appetizers.  Since we were having appetizer, salad, dinner, and dessert, I didn't want to do too many appetizers.  I was going to just do one, but I decided to do two at the last minute.  Here are the recipes for what I made.  Both were big hits.

Salmon Chips
1 cup smoked salmon
1 tsp black pepper
2 1/2 TBS white chopped onion
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 tsp lemon juice
Grated cheddar cheese
Tortilla scoops
Sliced jalapenos

Combine salmon, pepper, onion, cream cheese, and lemon juice.  Combine well.  Spoon the mixture into Tortilla scoops and place on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Place a jalapeno slice on top of each.  (I put a jalapeno on half of them since I knew everyone didn't like spicy foods.)  Broil until cheese melts.

The recipe makes about 25 salmon bites.  They are really easy and yummy!

I wasn't sure if everyone liked salmon, so I also did the delicious Charleston Cheese Dip.  I've had this many times, and it's always just as good.  I did make a few substitutions in the recipe.

Charleston Cheese Dip
1/2 cup mayonnaise
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese
2 green onions chopped (I didn't have green onions, so I just used chopped white onion)
Dash of Cayenne pepper
8 Ritz crackers crushed
8 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled (I didn't have bacon, so I used a small bag of bacon bits with the real bacon pieces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix mayonnaise, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, MJ cheese, onions, and peppers together in a bowl.  Transfer to a shallow baking dish.  Top with bacon crumbles and Ritz crackers.  (I used about 15 instead of 8 crackers.)  Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until heated through.

Serve hot with crackers, scoops, corn chips, etc.

Here is a picture of the dip I found on Pinterest.

After appetizers, we all headed to the Arnold's for salad.  Amy made a wonderful salad that everyone enjoyed.

Ramen Noodle Salad
3 heads of Romaine lettuce
1 package of broccoli florets
1 heaping cup of craisins
4 TB melted butter
1 package of Ramen noodles
1 package of green onion chopped (Amy doesn't like onions, so she may have left these out.)
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix lettuce, broccoli, onion, and craisins together.  Melt butter and saute noodles and pecans.  Drain and let cool.

Dressing
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 TB soy sauce

Mix all dressing ingredients together and whisk well.

Mix pecans and noodle mixture with the salad mixture.  Add dressing and toss.

After salad, we went over to Charlie's house for the main meal.  Charlie did his specialty, lamb chops.  They were marinated in a Dijon mustard base marinade, and they were delish.  We had baked asparagus, hashbrown casserole, and bread with the lamb chops.

Last, we went to the other Arnold house for dessert.  Mallory made a yummy s'more dessert.  I found the recipe off her Pinterest site, so I wanted to share it too.

Smoresall
3  unbroken Graham crackers
1 roll of chocolate chip cookie dough
Hershey chocolate pieces
Mini Marshmallows

In a small baking dish, place the Graham crackers on the bottom.  Roll the cookie dough flat and place it on top of the graham crackers.  Bake according to package and until the cookie is cooked through.  Place pieces of broken Hershey's chocolate on top.  Spread mini marshmallows on top of chocolate.  Bake until the marshmallows are brown and puffy.  Serve with ice cream.

Here is the picture from Pinterest.

I loved how the marshmallows actually tasted like they were roasted over a fire.  It was a great dessert!

I can't wait for many more memories with our Chesire friends.