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RECIPE ROUNDUP
It’s in the Can
By Shannon Oelrich
Judy Alter loves to cook and entertain, and she also likes to write about it. She’s the author of more than 60 books but is having her first-ever cookbook, Cooking My Way Through Life: Kids and Books in the Kitchen, to be published in January 2009 by State House Press. Why did it take her 60-plus books before getting to a cookbook? Well, she’s also the director of TCU Press, grandmother to seven and mother to four, so she keeps pretty busy. Here, she defends the time-honored use of canned soup to make a quick and tasty dish.
Some time ago, I wrote a memoir/cookbook. Why I wrote it is too long a story to tell here, but it was fun to do, and I was pleased with the results. A local university press that publishes cookbooks reviewed the manuscript and, after many months, sent a detailed, six-page critique. The critique was like a roadmap for a revision, and I was grateful, but at one point it called my recipes “nice faux gourmet recipes.” Referring to my recipe for that standard, King Ranch Chicken, the anonymous reviewer claimed she never used canned soups but always made her own white sauce.
Canned soup recipes likely have been around as long as canned soups, and probably have been controversial just as long. The critic’s comment sounded like snobbery to me, but a lot of people simply prefer not to use canned ingredients. Some people object that canned soups are high in sodium and fat. Yes, but you can buy low-sodium and low-fat versions. Others simply prefer not to use canned soups and make everything from scratch.
I’m for canned soup in moderation. Almost everyone knows how to make King Ranch Chicken with soup, but here are a couple of less common recipes of which I’m fond.
COLIN’S QUESO
1 pound ground beef
1 pound breakfast sausage (mild, medium or hot, according to taste)
1 jar (16 ounces) Pace picante sauce (again, mild, medium or hot, your choice)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pound Velveeta
Brown meat in skillet. Put meat in a crock pot, add remaining ingredients, and heat until cheese melts and ingredients are blended. Serve hot with corn chips.
SPINACH-BACON SPREAD
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 packages (10 ounces) chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
32 ounces Monterey jack cheese with jalapeños, shredded
1 can (11 ounces) cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1 teaspoon Greek seasoning
1/2 teaspoon onion power
1 teaspoon Tabasco
Paprika (optional)
1 jar (2 ounces) diced pimiento, drained (optional)
Combine everything but bacon, pimiento and paprika. Heat until cheese melts. Stir in crumbled bacon, sprinkle with pimiento and paprika, if desired. Serve hot with crackers.
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HOME COOKING
Recipe Contest Winner: Celie Harden, Pedernales Electric Cooperative
Prize-Winning Recipe: Harden Family Favorite Salad Dressing
We loved this easy, flavorful salad dressing. Serve it over a bunch of greens with chopped tomatoes, cucumber and shredded carrots, and sprinkle some real bacon bits over the top. Yum!
HARDEN FAMILY FAVORITE SALAD DRESSING
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups salad oil
1 can tomato soup
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled
Mix all ingredients except blue cheese in blender and blend to combine (or shake in a jar, or whisk in a bowl). Add blue cheese.
Serving size: 2 tablespoons. Per serving: 107 calories, 1.4 g protein, 9.5 g fat, 4 g carbohydrates, trace fiber, 308 mg sodium, 4 mg cholesterol
TORTILLA SOUP
1 large onion, chopped
1 small can chopped green chilies
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oil
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans beef broth
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans whole tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 cans Rotel
3 cups water
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper
2 tablespoons cilantro
4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
Tortilla chips, grated Monterey jack cheese, avocado, cilantro, sour cream
In large pot, saute onion, chilies and garlic in oil. Add next nine ingredients to vegetables and simmer, covered, 1 hour. Add chicken.
Serve with broken tortilla chips and grated Monterey jack cheese in bottom of bowl. Add avocado, cilantro and sour cream as desired.
Serving size: 2 cups. Per serving: 190 calories, 12 g protein, 5 g fat, 27.7 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 1,979 mg sodium, 12 mg cholesterol
Laurie Healy, Comanche County Electric Cooperative
Cook’s Tip: To reduce the fat, sodium or both in a recipe using canned soup, simply look for the low-fat and/or low-sodium versions of the soup. These versions are available for many popular flavors.
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WEB-ONLY BONUS RECIPES
These entries also did well in our testing, but they didn’t quite fit in the magazine.
STUFFED ALPINE CAPS
24 medium fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup butter
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped blanched almonds
1/3 cup sherry
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Remove stems from mushrooms. Chop stems finely and set aside. Saute stems in 1/4 cup butter until tender. Add soup mix, bread crumbs and almonds; mix well. Stir in sherry. Fill caps with mixture; place on well-greased pan.
Brush with butter and sprinkle with cheese. Broil 5 minutes or bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until brown and bubbly. Makes 24.
Serving size: 2 mushroom caps. Per serving: 136 calories, 4.4 g protein, 9.3 g fat, 8.4 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 259 mg sodium, 17 mg cholesterol
Lynda Housley, Navarro County Electric Cooperative
SWISS CHICKEN
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups herb stuffing mix
1/4 cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray. Place chicken breasts in pan. Sprinkle with garlic powder and pepper. Top each piece of chicken with a slice of Swiss cheese.
In small bowl, combine soup and milk; pour over chicken. Sprinkle with stuffing mix; drizzle with melted butter. Bake for 50 minutes or until chicken is done.
Serving size: 1 breast. Per serving: 360 calories, 36.4 g protein, 18.5 g fat, 6 g carbohydrates, trace fiber, 535 mg sodium, 118 mg cholesterol
Jeanne Range, Pedernales Electric Cooperative
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