RECIPES
Catherine's Tortilla Soup
Ingredients 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil 8 Corn tortillas, cut in strips 6-10 cloves garlic, sliced 1 medium onion chopped 1 bunch chopped fresh Cilantro 8-12 quartered fresh Roma Tomatoes 2 T. ground cumin (I add more to taste) 2 T. chili powder 3 Bay leaves 6-8 cups chicken stock 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper 6 chicken breasts cut up
Heat the oil in the bottom of a soup kettle or deep soup pot. Add tortillas, garlic, onion and brown. Add the cilantro. Saute about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and boil. Add all the seasonings, bay leaves and chicken stock. Bring back to boil. Add chicken. I cook on medium low for 2 hours. However, the soup is ready to eat after chicken is cooked through in about 30 minutes. Take out Bay leaves. Serve. Garnish with slices of Avocado, sour cream, grated cheese and tortilla chips.
Catherine's Christmas Chocolate Tea Cakes
Ingredients 1 cup brown sugar ½ melted salted butter ½ cup milk 1 ½ cup flour 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla ½ teaspoon soda ¾ cup pecans 6 tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
With a mixer, blend the melted butter and sugar, add egg, vanilla then the alternate the flour sifted with soda/ and the milk to make a smooth batter. Add the cocoa last. Chill dough one hour. Drop by teaspoonfulls the size of walnuts onto greased cookie sheets. If you use parchment paper, spray it with Pam. Bake 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. The cookies should spring back when touched in the middle with your finger like a cake. Watch them carefully. Cool on racks.
Ice with Catherine's icing ½ stick butter 1 box powdered sugar 3 Tablespoons or more to make spreadable the secret: FRENCH VANILLA COFFEEMATE….don't use the fat free. It's too thin and has a funny metal taste to it.
Ice top of cookies when cookies are cold. Decorate with sprinkles, colored sugar, or fun decors of the seaso. I color the icing, too.
Bishop's Bread
Ingredients 2 ½ Cups Flour ½ cup Crisco or margarine, I use real butter 1 tsp. cinnamon 2 cups brown sugar ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. Baking Powder Mix together: ½ tsp. soda, ¾ cup butter milk (if no buttermilk, use 1 cup milk add 1 tsp. lemon juice and it makes "fake" buttermilk) 1 egg 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans if desired.
MIX: 2 cups sugar with the Crisco. Add flour, salt. SAVE: ¾ cup of the crumble mixture to make crumble top. ADD: Baking powder, Egg, Buttermilk (which has soda mixed into it). Cinnamon. BEAT: Till smooth Pour into greased pan. Use a bundt pan, angel food cake pan or 9 x 13 pan. Cover with crumble mixture and chopped nuts. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Valentine Cut Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients 1 cup salted butter (must be real butter) ½ cup powdered sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 ¼ cups flour
Beat butter till creamy. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat. Add flour. Chill Dough 2 hours. Roll out dough on floured surface and cut with heart shaped cutter. Bake 350 for 8-10 minutes until bottoms are gold and centers are firm.
Frost with icing: ½ stick real butter 2 cups powdered sugar French Vanilla Coffee Mate ¼ cup or more till consistency is spreadable. ¼ teaspoon ALMOND extract 1 teaspoon VANILLA extract.
Parcel out 1/3 the icing for piping names and cute sayings on the cookies. I like: Be my Valentine; Flirty Girl; Sweetie Pie; UR4 Me; Heartbreaker: Kiss; Hug. (You get the idea) Red food coloring. For the rest of the icing. Frost cookies and then write the sayings. Give the cookies to your favorite "Sugar".