Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan Soup)

I received a delightful email from a friend the other day with an attached 478-page recipe book full of restaurant recipes - anything from A&W's Onion Rings to York Peppermint Patties and everything in-between. I quickly scrolled to the O section.

Olive Garden.

Zuppa Toscana.

Been dying to try it for well over a year now.

Finally, I put the obscure ingredients (not really - just the kale) on a grocery list and sent Armando for the goods.

It turned out DELICIOUS! I would highly recommend this recipe.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup onions, diced 1/8 inch
1 slice bacon, 1/4-inch diced
1 1/4 tsp garlic cloves, minced
1 ounce chicken boullion
1 quart water
2 medium potatoes, cut in half length-wise then cut in 1/4 inch slices (do not peel)
2 cups cavallo greens (kale can be substituted), cut in half, then sliced into 1/16-inch strips
1 1/2 cups sausage link - spicy, pre-cooked, cut in half-length-wise, then cut at an angle into 1/2-inch slices
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Place sausage link onto sheet pan and bak in 300 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until done.

Place onions and bacon into 3 to 4 quart sauce pan and cook onions over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add chicken bouillon, water and potatoes, bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients then simmer for 5 more minutes and serve.

Recipe courtesy Insider's Recipes Master Edition.

**These are just some changes I made or would make to the recipe next time.

• I substituted the sausage link (yuck) for ground sausage. This time I used regular. Armando claimed it lacked any kick. I now have a pound of frozen HOT ground sausage in the freezer waiting for the next time I try the recipe.
• I used the kale. It worked perfect.
• This recipe calls for heavy whipping cream. I don't think it needs it. Milk would suffice.
  

If you'd like a copy of this recipe book, just leave me a comment along with your email address and I'll send it to you.

Great Grandmother's Homemade Ice Cream

Ingredients:

2 quarts milk

1 quart cream

4 eggs, beaten

2 2/3 C sugar

6 junket tablets* dissolved in cold water

2 tblsp vanilla (the real stuff is better)

Heat the first four ingredients to warm (like a baby’s milk). DO NOT OVERHEAT. Add vanilla and put in refrigerator to cool. Add junket tablets and set until the thickness of gravy. Put into ice cream freezer and freeze.

Up until this time, I had never made this ice cream without it being devoured within minutes. It froze up very well in the freezer and we enjoyed it for weeks afterwards. It's especially delicious with fresh fruit on top. If you serve it right when it has finished in the freezer, it melts almost immediately. Either way, it's delicious, but I prefer hard ice cream.

*Junket tablets are gelatin tablets made to thicken ice cream. All growing up we could find them at Smith's. I couldn't find them there. I found them at Albertson's. Some have said they found them at Wal-mart.

Summer Citrus Drink

It's warming up outside, so we're keeping cool with this . . . I know it just looks like a normal glass of lemonade or limeade, but really, this drink is bursting with all the citrus fruits you can think of!

That's right, if you look close, it has grapefruit, orange, lemon, and lime!

I used about this much fruit. If you don't want to count it was:

2 grapefruits
1 orange (would have used more if I had them)
2 limes
2 lemons
I juiced out all the juice and pulp I could get out of the fruit into a pitcher. I also added a little bit of fresh lemon and lime zest from the leftover rinds.

Then I added almost a cup of sugar (YIKES!) I do this a little at a time so I can taste test as I go.
Then I filled the pitcher with lots of ice and water. (I added the ice so it would be cold right away).

And ta-da a delicious, refreshing, summer drink.
Credit goes to my sister-in-law, Ana, who made something similar for me 3 summers ago and I just remembered it today. Thanks, Ana!

Watermelon Popsicles

There's not a better way to welcome summer than with a batch of Watermelon Popsicles. Here's how we do ours:


Slice up about 1/2 seedless watermelon
Fill blender about 3/4 full with watermelon
Add a little sugar and water. I start with about 2-4 tablespoons of sugar and sweeten it to taste from that point depending on how sweet the watermelon is and how much water I add.

Freeze the watermelon juice in popsicle containers and enjoy. Drink the rest of the juice as a refreshing summer beverage. We drink watermelon juice almost all summer long!

Here are some other fruits to try with the same recipe:

Cantaloupe Popsicles
Pineapple Popsicles

Taquitos Salad Dinner

I think this has to be one of my favorite dinners. Chances are if you know me, you've had this while dining at my house. I learned it a few years ago from a dear friend who, two years ago today, passed on. So in honor of Caro, her famous taquitos, Honduran-style!

Ingredients:

Frozen Taquitos (small, large, chicken, or beef - anything works) *I prefer the smaller ones cause they are crispier.


Salad
1/2 head cabbage, very finely shredded (this is a latin art that takes a lot of practice - the closer to paper-thin it is, the better)
3-4 roma tomatoes
1 cucumber
1/2 to 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
juice from 1 lime
salt & pepper to taste

Sauce
1 tbsp butter or olive oil
1/4-1/2 onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
1 can tomato sauce
chicken boullion, dissolved in a little water
cumin, to taste
brown sugar, to taste
Queso Seco (Dry Cheese in Mexican Cheese Section or you can use Parmesan)

Prepare salad - finely chop cabbage and add diced tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro. Mix well and add salt, pepper and lime juice to taste. Set aside and prepare sauce while taquitos are cooking in the oven.

Sauce Prep - Finely chop onion and garlic. Saute in butter. Add tomato sauce and boullion mixture and bring to a boil. Add cumin, salt, and pepper to taste. Add a little brown sugar and dissolve.

Assemble Taquito Salad and sprinkle with Queso Seco (Dry Cheese). Serve warm.

P.S. Sorry to all of you who must have exact measurements. The sauce for this is a little different every time. If you live close, I'd be happy to demonstrate it for you some day.

Moroccan Chicken Stew

Several months after I asked for crockpot recipes from friends, I'm finally following up and posting some I received. Here's one from my dear friend, Emily, who is an excellent cook. I have yet to try it, but maybe if I post it here, I will make it some day soon!

Emily's notes:

I got this recipe out of the December 07 issue of "Better Homes and Gardens" and I made it for Lukas for Valentine's Day. It was delicious! A very good blend of spices....made the house smell wonderful.

Ingredients:

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced

3 lb. meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks), skinned

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped

14-oz. can chicken broth

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Hot cooked couscous

Pine nuts, toasted

Fresh cilantro (optional)

Preparation:

In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker place carrots and onions. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add to cooker; top chicken with raisins and apricots. In bowl whisk broth, tomato paste, flour, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Add to cooker. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 6 1/2 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Serve in bowls with couscous. Sprinkle with nuts. Garnish with cilantro.

The only variation I would make to this recipe is to add the raisins and apricots halfway or later in the cooking process as opposed to the beginning with the chicken. They were somewhat leeched of color and flavor and I would have preferred them to be more chewy. Also, I used chopped macadamian nuts instead of pinenuts because pinenuts were $6.99 for a small bag at my local grocery store. However, I did see pinenuts later at Wal-mart for a lot cheaper (still expensive though). Don't forget the cilantro...the cilantro adds a nice fresh flavor to this dish!

Summer Shrimp Salad

It's been awhile since I've posted. I decided that the "What's cooking at Daisy's" blog title had to go. My new and improved, "Daisy Cooks, [sometimes]" seems to fit better. I do cook. And a lot more often than you'll see proof of here. So when I actually take a sec to photograph the food and then have another minute to post, I will. For now, here's a little inspiration for a summer salad that I LOVE. If you don't like seafood, stop here.

Summer Shrimp Salad

1 pkg pasta (I usually use shell, but didn't have any this time)
1 lb salad shrimp, cooked and deveined, with tail off
1 cucumber
3-4 roma tomatoes
3/4 c mayonnaise (honestly I've never measured the mayo & ketchup)
1/3 c ketchup
salt & pepper to taste

Boil pasta 'til well done. Let cool. (When I'm in a hurry, I run cold water over it). Rinse shrimp. Cut cucumbers and tomatoes into slices and fourths. Mix with pasta and shrimp. In a separate bowl, mix mayo and ketchup with salt and pepper. Add to pasta, shrimp, and veggies. Add more salt and pepper if desired.