French Onion Soup Mix

In the middle of gearing up for a rather busy week of Fall break and the kids being home, we made some crazy awesome onion soup mix this weekend. I have two cooking segments this week so I'm going to be busy! One will be Wednesday morning at 8:45 on Fox 10 AZAM Phoenix doing some amazingly fun Fall kitchen craft ideas and activities for the kids. Friday, my second segment will be on NBC 12 Valley Dish on fun Fall cupcake decoration ideas at 3:30 PM. It seems right to be this busy doesn't it?! Let's just hope that these appearances lead to something more permanent for Chef Tess. I sure would love to have a solid home base. Not that I'm complaining! Ever!! I love what I do! That being said, I did mention the onion soup mix we made.

I won this cookbook from a giveaway on Pantry Eats. I know...I could probably write one of my own with all the homemade mix recipes we have here already, but what can I say...I'm a dope for a good cookbook. The idea of trying more mixes is always high on my list. Perhaps because I can save so much money and time. I control the ingredients. I was excited to see what the folks who wrote theMix-A-Meal Cookbook had to offer. So far, I'm impressed. 46 mix recipes and 100 original recipes using those mixes. Everything from salad dressing mixes to baking mixes to sauce and bread mixes. It's quite the little book. I think it's well worth the price of the book if you ask me. So I decided to go straight to the source and contact the folks down atMix-a-Meal.com When I talked to their representative I asked her which recipes she liked best, she suggested I try the onion soup mix recipe first. It looked simple enough. She said I could share it with all of my friends here too...so don't worry. I have permission to show you this...

For one thing, it also looked like something anyone can do! That's good! The other thing is that this recipe is what "normal" people eat. Ask my friends...I'm normal. Ask my husband...I'm a gourmet freak-fest. Just saying, "normal" is subjective. My sister would eat this. She's normal. I can vouch for that.
Things I did a little differently from the original recipe.

I omitted the dehydrated butter, since I just didn't want to open a can. I know that changes the recipe, but it worked great without it. Second, I toasted the dry onions in a dry skillet until they where lightly browned. This makes a very nice French Onion soup mix having the caramelized onion. Certainly, this step can be skipped all together if you don't want to toast them. I'm not checking your cupboard.
I also was sure to use a very good Veal Base or my favorite...
Beef Base Instant, clear beef consommé. Fat free. MSG-Free.
For a more gourmet mix, Herbes De Provence in place of the plain parsley is a good choice as well as granulated garlic instead of the onion powder.

The big test of course, was using it in a real application. Would my kids eat it?! The cookbook suggested mixing one cup of sour cream and two teaspoons of the onion soup mix to make onion dip. I adore onion dip. So, we got out our tub of fat free Homemade yogurt and measured a cup. Yogurt works people. Sour cream does too.

It really did only need the 2 tsp of mix! I was so excited! Face was so excited to stir.

He ate half a pound of carrots dipped in the onion dip...and licked the bowl clean. Yeah...I'd say that it passed the kid test.

So...there it is. It made a good 2 cups of mix.

The book gave a lot of other ways to use the onion soup mix as well...

I don't work for these guys and I don't make any money by telling you this...but...
The other good news is they are having a special! Order today and save 33% off the regular price!Click here to find out more.

Thank you Deanna Bean and Lorna Shute for a great reference to have around. No doubt, I'll be delivering a few more gems to my friends here from this book!

There you go! Way to go!

Buried In The Earth (Bread of Life Section)

Sunday is the day I share a part of my Soul. Enjoy.

Earlier this evening we went for a family drive. We drove past the old cemetery as the sun was starting to get low in the sky and the light wind was ruffling the large Italian Cyprus that line the well manicured grounds. It was a picture of loveliness in that quite cemetery. We drove our car in to perhaps walk and talk with the boys about life and choices we make. Little did we know that the cemetery was, on this evening, particularly barren. There wasn't a soul in sight and we drove up and down the aisles looking at headstones.
The car got quite as we drove past the only other vehicle that seemed to be there with us. We could see a woman, all alone beside a grave. She seemed to be talking to the person buried in the ground and weeping openly. It was moving beyond words. When we drove past, Ace noticed an inscription on the back window of her car. "In Loving Memory of David..." Along with the dates of his life. We drove a little more and Ace suddenly stopped the car. "Stephanie, you need to go give that woman a hug." No more needed to be said. He pulled up along side the lone car and the lone woman and I got out. I didn't know what to say but I walked over to her. "You don't know me from anybody...but can I give you a hug?" She started weeping and we embraced. Looking down I could see that the soil was very new. She followed my gaze. "It is my Son. It was sudden...his death. He died seven days ago and I knew that the storms had been bad enough to maybe cause some damage to his grave so I came today." I started crying. My heart ached for her. She started crying. We hugged again and she told me she never planned on being here at his grave. She wanted to go first. I felt that God had sent me to this lone woman to let her know that she was not in fact, alone. I told her my thoughts and we hugged a last time.

As we drove away and tears trickled down my normally sunshine happy face, I thought of all the things I've buried in the earth. All the seeds and all the bulbs that I willingly decided to hand over to the Lord. Yet, here, in a cemetery this evening, I learned something more. I saw a mother who had seen her son buried. She didn't willingly hand him over to the Lord...the Lord took him home. How much harder is it to give that kind of seed to God? Something we held onto with love for years that is unexpectedly gone one day may be one of the hardest challenges a mother or father faces. Yet, we all may or may not be called to pass through that trial. All I know is that when such a moment happens, we are not required to have all the answers. We are only asked to strengthen one another. Hold someone when they cry...and help them bury the seed if needed. I for one, am glad I was able be an angel for a minute. Should I ever be taken unexpectedly like that...I would hope someone would do the same for those I left behind. I don't know it all...but I do know that "this too shall pass". We will be together forever someday with the Lord. Life will move on and God will still love all of His children. We are not alone.

Homemade Whole Grain Nutri-Bars

Yes, I realize it's Freezer meal Friday. Breakfast is a meal. Grab-n-go is a must have. This just seemed like a perfect fit after this week's Homemade Fig Bars (Tutorial 101). Plus, I promised I'd share it this week and so far, this is the only thing I have not done for my people...who I adore. So, here it is. We freeze these little bad-boy happy treats. They're made with spelt flour and are fat free sweetened with honey. Now, what's not to love about that?!

For the filling, you will need 1 1/2 cup real fruit spread (those without sugar are awesome). If you use homemade jam, be sure it's pretty thick. You may need to add 1-2 Tablespoons of ultra-gel or heat it with 1-2 T of cornstarch mixed into the jam to make it a bit more firm as a filling. So far, the fruit spreads that are 100% fruit seem to be the best bet. I realize that this may be evil to suggest...but I'm good that way. How about using the Black Forest Macroon Conserve ? Wouldn't that be amazing?!

For the dough:
1/2 cup mashed banana (one banana is just about right)
1/2 cup honey or brown rice syrup
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp rum extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour

Combine the banana, honey, egg, vanilla and rum. Add the dry ingredients and form into a soft dough. Roll out dough and cut it as described in the Homemade Fig Bars (Tutorial 101), but instead of using the pastry bag of fig filling, fill your pastry bag with your fruit jam filling.

Oh my gosh. Don't lick the computer screen. Seriously. This is a homemade pink champagne and raspberry filling. Non-alcoholic...but very good.

This dough is not as delicate as the cookie dough, but it still needs to be handled with care. Fold it over the filling.

Cut into 8 inch bars and with a spatula, carefully flip, seam side down, onto a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

I was able to bake them an inch apart. They don't spread much.

Bake 12-14 minutes. I lightly dust mine with some lavender vanilla infused powdered sugar. This of course makes me feel like a fairy princess to put "happy dust" on stuff. That almost sounds like a drug reference. I know.

I've just made you an addict.

Allow to cool completely. These are perfect for snack baggies and keep frozen 1-4 months (though I don't think they will last that long with addicts in the house). Yield 20 bars.

There you go.

Homemade Fig Bars (Tutorial 101)

My childhood would not have been complete without my daddy's addiction for fig bars. I don't think I would look at him with the same cute smile if I didn't know he had a weakness for something as simple as a sleeve of figgy bars. There is in fact, nothing on earth that makes me miss him more than seeing a garden full of new seedlings...and a package of fig bars.

So, that being said, today I wanted to show a whole grain, whole food alternative to the premade bars. It will of course, start with some figs. These are dried figs that have soaked 2-3 hours in warm water. I also like to soak them in juice for a slightly different flavor. Pick a juice...any juice.

Once soaked they will start to look tomatoes...but brown with smaller seeds.

Fig filling:

1 lb dried organic figs

1/2 cup honey or rice syrup

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tsp ground ginger

2tsp vanilla

1/3 cup UltraGel or 1/3 cup corn starch (only use corn starch if you don't plan on home canning the filling)

water or juice (about 3 cups)

Soak the figs in the juice or water for 2-3 hours. Drain juice and discard. Mash fruit with a fork fine or use a meat grinder. I prefer the grinder method. This meat grinder had never been used on meat. Isn't that weird? Just a random fact I'm sure you wanted to know about.

You will end up with this mass of mashed goodness.

Combine all the filling ingredients in a large pan.

Cook until thick over medium heat, about 10 minutes. This will make 3-4 cups of filling. I always make extra and home-can it for use later. Boiling water bath method, 10 minutes.

One cup of filling will make a batch of fig bars. Take that filling and set it aside. You may need to add 1-2 Tablespoons more of the UltraGel to the filling, depending on how thick you want the stuff. I like mine pretty firm...so I add a little more. This works amazingly well for any other kind of jam as well if you want to turn it into a filling for cookies or bars.

My fig bar dough:

1/2 cup butter, softened or 1/2 cup Chocolate Infused Certified Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 cup honey

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

3 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour ( I used spelt flour today)

Directions:

Take honey and butter...and send the honey cliff diving. Wait. I guess the diving is optional. If you use the Chocolate infused olive oil...be prepared for the heavenly flavor...and try not to drink the bottle. I have to hold myself back. It's divine!

Combine the honey, vanilla and soft butter or chocolate olive oil until smooth.

I think I could bathe in this junk. I mean...who wouldn't want to just have their ankles in this stuff?

Add the egg, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined. Add the flour.

Stir by hand about 2 minutes, until a soft but slightly firm dough is formed.

Heavily flour your counter top or work surface. The dough will be rather soft and I don't want any stickin'.
Flour the top of the dough as well.

With a rolling pin, roll dough out until it is about 1/4 inch thin and in the shape of a large rectangle.

Transfer your figgy filling into a pastry bag. That's a cake decorating bag for you who don't know. I have a lot of new students who have no idea what the real name for things could be.

Slice the dough all the way through, 2 1/2 inches wide, all the length of the rolled out dough.

Squeeze the filling out down the center of the dough strip.

The filling should be about 1/2 inch tall and 3/4 inch wide, the full length of the strip.

Very carefully fold the sides around the filling and lightly pinch the dough at the center seam.

Depending on how well you floured your work surface, you may need to use some persuasion in getting the dough up off the board. I've found the use of a small sharp steak knife to be very effective at this. Also good at getting gum off my dashboard. Not that we have that issue.

Once you have sealed all the strips of dough around the filling,

Take a thin metal spatula and cut the filled dough logs to fit just about the length of the spatula.

Gently ease the spatula under the bar to transfer it to a baking sheet. Oven should be pre-heated to 375 degrees.

Flip the bar so it's seam side down on an ungreased heavy baking sheet. Leave about an inch of space between bars. Keep the bars as long as possible when baking. Bake 10-12 minutes.

When still hot, cut with a sharp knife into cookie size bars.

Transfer to a cooling rack if desired.

When cooled, place in an air tight container or wrap tightly in individual snack baggies.

There you go. Homemade fig bars.

Chef Stephanie On Valley Dish

Your Happily Ever After

Sunday is the day I share a little of my soul. Enjoy.

I've had a lot of time the last couple of days to think on my earthly experiences and trials that have brought me to the point I am now. I've thought of my childhood...and fairy tale stories. As a child, in my minds eye I could see the lavish marble halls of those castles in the clouds. I wanted to dance blissfully through the manicured gardens and dawn the giant fluffy gowns. I wanted a fairy Godmother. In real life, there has been a lot more floor scrubbing than I remembered reading about. Yet...there has still been joy. I've thought often of those tales I read as a child and wondered how my life could be so amazing at times, yet painful at other times. I read a speech called "Your Happily Ever After"that said something amazing about the heroic character of those stories:

"Sandwiched between their “once upon a time” and “happily ever after,” they all had to experience great adversity. Why must all experience sadness and tragedy? Why could we not simply live in bliss and peace, each day filled with wonder, joy, and love?

The scriptures tell us there must be opposition in all things, for without it we could not discern the sweet from the bitter. Would the marathon runner feel the triumph of finishing the race had she not felt the pain of the hours of pushing against her limits? Would the pianist feel the joy of mastering an intricate sonata without the painstaking hours of practice?

In stories, as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy. "

I believe that music is one of the most amazing ways to share my soul. So, today I want to share a song with myself as much as I share it with all of the women and mothers out there who ever wonder if they are what they hoped to be. You are. I am. We are. Our eternal identity as daughters of God gives us beauty unsurpassed by what we see in the world. I believe with all my heart that God has a great work for you to do. Never underestimate the power and beauty that are embodied in who you are and what you do.Thanks most especially to Cheri Call for this amazing song, that so fully shares my feelings on the matter.

Today On Valley Dish!

Hello Fall! It's October and I was asked to do a cooking show here in the Phoenix valley called Valley Dish! This was my second time appearing on the show...however...this was my first full show as the guest chef alone. The last show was a brown bag lunch competition (that I won...grin...). As fun as that was, this was amazing! The first thing I had to do when I arrived at the studio was assemble all the ingredients for the first shots. It's pretty interesting having to get all my junk together. I mean...amazing ingredients of glory together.

Special amazing thanks to Kim Kerr with Taste of Italy at the Mesa Market Place for the wonderful balsamic vinegar we used in the show! It truly made the dish special. Kim opens her shop next weekend, but was gracious enough to let me come by and get some vinegar this morning for the show! Thank you Kim!

Her olive oil is amazing as well! We used it in all the dishes today!

The highlight of course, was finally getting to do a show with the sweet Tram Mai! She was such a blast! We laughed...we sang. Yeah...they didn't catch that on tape right? At any rate, she was such a great hostess and I love her! Tram asked me back for another show in November! Isn't that going to be cool?! When Tram called me this morning, I told her it felt like Christmas Day. I was so excited to be on with her. Well Tram, it still feels like Christmas! Thank you!

So without further adieu...here's the real deal right here. The food!

Raspberry Dijon Glazed Chicken Breasts with Homemade Rice-E-Roni and a Fall Apple Maple Salad with Spiced Walnuts
by Stephanie Petersen - Sept. 15, 2010 10:52 AM
Show airs on Valley Dish Oct. 1st 2010
Ingredients
1 lb chicken breast (about 3 medium breasts)
1-2 teaspoons All Purpose Seasoning ( any season salt will work)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
Directions
Place chicken in skillet with a little olive oil and begin to cook over medium high heat.
In a separate container, combine the ingredients for the sauce.
Apply the sauce (recipe below) and cover the skillet. Allow to simmer 10-12 minutes until cooked.

Raspberry Sauce
Ingredients
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup high grade balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam (blackberry, plum or orange marmalade also work well)
1tbsp Dijon mustard
Directions
Mix ingredients together until incorporated.

Fall Apple Maple Salad with Spiced Walnuts
Ingredients
12-16 oz mixed field greens
1 red or yellow apple, chopped
Maple Vinaigrette
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Blend vinaigrette ingredients well with a whisk in a 2 cup bowl. Toss in chopped apple. Combine with 12-16 ounces of fresh clean mixed greens.

Spiced Walnuts
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 cup walnuts
Directions
Melt butter over low heat with brown sugar, vanilla and rum. Add nuts and coat. Remove from heat.
In a separate bowl, combine:
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Toss butter coated nuts in the spiced sugar to coat. Serve over salad

Homemade Rice-E-Roni
Ingredients
1 cup long grain rice (or 2 cups brown instant rice)
1/2 cup fideo noodles or spaghetti noodles, broken into 1/2 inch pieces
1 tbsp low sodium no msg chicken bullion or 2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp minced onion
1 pressed garlic clove
1 1/2 teaspoon all purpose seasoning (Lawry's or your favorite blend)

To prepare you will need:
1 tbsp butter or oil
2 cups water (or stock if you omit the bullion)
Directions
In a 2 quart pan with a tight fitting lid, brown the rice and noodles in the oil until noodles are a nice deep brown, but not burned.
Add the water, or stock; (or bullion and water), vegetables, seasoning. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to low for 15-20 minutes until tender. Simmer 10 minutes if you use brown instant.

There you go!

Kim Kerr @ Taste of Italy

480-330-6203

Mesa Market Place

10550 E. Baseline Road