Garlic Bread Soup

I got this from marthastewart.com and it just looked so delicious! We had it as an accompaniment to the stuffed peppers. It turned out ok and was VERY garlicy. So be prepared.

Garlic Bread Soup
Makes 5 cups; serves 4

Use a high-quality olive oil for the best flavor in this rustic soup. If you don't have stale bread on hand, lightly toast fresh bread, and tear it into small pieces.

Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 40 minutes

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
2 TBSP garlic paste
2 cups bite-size pieces stale crusty bread (4 ounces)
5 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 large eggs, beaten

Directions
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat until hot but not smoking. Add garlic paste; cook, stirring occasionally, until very fragrant but not browned, about 10 minutes.

Add bread, and stir to coat. Stir in stock and bay leaf; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes.

Discard bay leaf. Stir in eggs. Cook, stirring occasionally to break up eggs, about 10 minutes. Serve soup garnished with parsley leaves.

Beef and Potato Burritos

Beef and Potato Burritos

For less spicy burritos, remove the jalapeno ribs and seeds before chopping. I think I got this recipe from marthastewart.com, but I am not sure. It was part of a list of recipes I compiled from online that I wanted to try. This one turned out pretty good.

Prep: 30 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 large baking potato
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno chile, finely chopped
1 can (14 ounces) chopped tomatoes with juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
Coarse salt
flour tortillas (10-inch)
cup sour cream
grated Monterey Jack or preferred taco cheese

Directions
1. Peel potatoes; cut into 1/2-inch dice. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add potato; cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 6 minutes.

2. Add beef, onion, and jalapeno; cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until beef is thoroughly browned, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and juice, cumin, paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt; cook until liquid has evaporated, about 6 minutes.
3. Heat tortillas, one at a time, in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, turning once, until lightly browned, about 10 seconds.

4. Leaving space on bottom and sides, layer tortillas with sour cream, lettuce, beef mixture, cheese, and cilantro, if using; squeeze lime juice on top. Fold bottom upward, covering filling by 2 inches. Fold each side to overlap, leaving the top end open. Serve garnished with lime wedges.

Savory "French Toast" and Molho

Savory "French Toast" and Molho
3-4 Servings

Ingredients
6 eggs
1 TBSP chilli powder
1 TBSP cumin
salt & pepper
1 foot long loaf of ciabatta bread


Beat 6 eggs with chilli powder, cumin, salt and pepper.


Cut your bread into thin slices (1/2 inch or less).


Soak the bread slices in the egg mixture and then put into hot frying pan.



Cook as you would french toast. Make sure you don't burn them. Flip back and forth until you feel they are cooked through. It should make about 20 pieces (including ends).

Arrange the slices on a plate and spoon molho over the bread. Don't be scared to add some of the juices. The bread will soak it up.

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Molho

I use molho all the time as a get way to add vegetables to many dishes that might otherwise have simply filler veggies (like lettuce). I always keep a container of it in the fridge. I got the recipe from my mother-in-law who got it from her mother, I think. I use it so often and I have dabbled with it so much that I really should make a little log of "101 Ways to Use Molho". We'll see.

Here's the recipe (altered a tad) so you can use it with this recipe. I will post an entry again discussing the recipe.

3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
2 onions diced (I alternate between onions to create different flavors)
2 diced bell peppers (I alternate colors to create differents flavors)
2-3 tomatoes diced (or 6 small tomatoes if you're in the UK buying those packs)
1 ½ teaspoons salt