Tag: #ComfortFood

Delicious Orange Olive Oil Cake Recipe

Our orange olive oil cake recipe makes a simple yet flavorful snacking cake that everyone will love. In my house, I always have to bake a double batch.

A few years ago, two friends from my culinary school days came to visit me for the weekend. In preparation for my house guests, I deep cleaned, bought fresh flowers and baked an orange olive oil cake.

My friends were still a few hours away. I decided that no one would mind if I tried a slice of the cake. Quality control, right? Well, that was a huge mistake, because I fell in love.

The cake was tender and soft. The presence of orange was playful and bright with the fruity olive oil. There was just enough sugar to impart a hint of sweetness. It avoided a full-blown sugar rush—the marker of a true snacking cake. One slice turned into two, three, four. Before I knew it, half the cake was gone. And then my friends showed up.

I told them what happened. They laughed, then grabbed two forks and tried the cake for themselves. Laughter turned into shock, and I was jokingly berated all weekend for barely saving them “the best cake in existence.”

Every reunion weekend after that, my friends have requested the cake—with no slices taken out beforehand. And, yes, I learned my lesson: Always bake a double batch of this orange olive oil cake recipe. One for them, one for me.

Taste of Home

Find more recipes like this on my companion blog, “Good Food, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!”

Posted in From My Kitchen

Delicious Meals You Can Make in Minutes

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

You’re home from work and everyone’s hungry. Here’s what you can make in a jiff with ingredients you probably already have in your fridge and pantry.

Taste of Home

Posted in From My Kitchen

Quick and Easy Casserole Recipes

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Break out your best casserole dish because there’s nothing better than some homemade comfort food. From breakfast casseroles that can feed a crowd to creative takes like casseroles inspired by other popular dishes (and everything in between!), these recipes are layered with flavor—and sure to satisfy. You can’t go wrong with any of the recipes in this roundup but we love a good mashup like this one. With hash browns, ground beef, canned tomatoes and green chiles, taco seasoning and gooey cheese, it can’t be beat. It’s the ultimate hands-off meal. And since everything’s tossed together right in the baking dish, there’s very little cleanup. Simply garnish with your favorite taco toppings and dinner is served. If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, try wrapping them in a tortilla for a quick burrito.

Food Network

Posted in #allrecipes

Champion Chili Recipes for Winning Cook-Offs

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

These top-rated recipes are tried-and-true chili cook-off winners. And they could be your ticket to a blue ribbon, too. From classics to spicy new favorites, you’ll want to try all of these prize-winning chili recipes.

  • Boilermaker Tailgate Chili
  • Debdoozie’s Blue Ribbon Chili
  • Fusion Chili
  • Best Damn Chili

Allrecipes

Posted in From My Kitchen

5 Big-Batch Soups That Are Perfect for Stocking Your Freezer

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Whether you’re craving some cozy comfort on a snowy day or need an easy meal because you’ve got a case of the sniffles, there’s no better choice than a warming bowl of homemade soup. But, what do you do when cooking from scratch isn’t an option? With a little planning, you can simply reach in your freezer!

Stocking your freezer with soups may seem like a big task but it’s surprisingly simple to do. Just make a big batch on the weekend, let the soup cool completely and then tuck it away in your freezer. Most soups are freezer-friendly as long as you store them correctly.

When it comes to tucking them away in your freezer, less is more — meaning that it’s better to save the soup as several small portions than it is to freeze the whole batch in one big container. If you don’t have the right size or shape containers for maximizing freezer space, you can pour the soup into several gallon zip-top bags. Freeze the bags flat on a sheet pan so that you have several thin, frozen packages that are easy to stack and store. (You can also vacuum-seal portions of soup and freeze the same way.)

So, which soups freeze best? Most soups work well although ones that include a starchy element (like rice or pasta) are better if you undercook that ingredient just a touch. That way, when you reheat the soup the rice or pasta will be perfectly cooked. If that feels too complicated, just go ahead and make the recipe as directed, cool and freeze — I promise, it will be fine. Your rice or pasta will be just a little bit softer.

One ingredient you should avoid when you’re freezing soups though, is potato chunks. They don’t reheat well. If your soup calls for chunks of potato you can omit them and cook them fresh when you’re ready to serve your soup. Or, simply stick to soups where the potatoes are pureed (like Ree’s Perfect Potato Soup, below).

Ready to give it a try? These five big-batch soups will help you get started.

Food Network