Clam Chowder

For the past 25 years or so, it has been a tradition on the Haynes side to make this Clam Chowder every Christmas Eve.  The ingredients and measurements have never been written down till today.  Every year my grandma made this and every year my dad made this it was from memory.  Funny, today while I was making it my house smelled like Christmas Eve to me.  Good memories!  These recipe portions are for 6 people.  When my dad makes this soup, he uses a gallon of milk and feeds 20 people. So you can definitely double or triple this recipe and make enough to feed everyone.  There is no low calorie version of this soup...maybe that's why we only have it once a year!

4 slices of bacon

1 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. dried parsley

1/4 tsp old bay

1 cup clam juice

1 cup chicken stock

4 cups of potatoes, bite size cubes

1 quart of whole milk (4 cups)

2 cups half & half

3 - 6.5oz cans of chopped clams

1/3 cup of flour

fresh sourdough bread

soup crackers

Chop the bacon up and place in hot stock pot to cook.  Bacon should be crispy but not burnt.  Remove bacon pieces.  Leave bacon grease.  Add 1 Tbsp of butter to the grease.  Add celery and onion to the butter mix.  Saute for 4 mins.  Add minced garlic and saute for 1 min.  Add salt, pepper, old bay (my idea, ingredient is not from the orignal recipe) and parsley to coat vegetables.  Add 1 cup of clam juice, 1 cup chicken stock and juice from the clams in a can. Bring to a boil.  Add potatoes, cover and boil for 25 mins. Soup broth will just cover the potatoes.

Once potatoes are cooked add milk and half and half.  Stir altogether.  Before the milk mixture gets warm scoop out 1 cup of broth into a shaker jar.  Add 1/3 cup of flour to the milk mix.  In the shaker jar shake milk and flour together to make a thickening rue.  Once there are no lumps add back to the soup.  Add the chopped clams and crumbled bacon to the stock pot.  Stir and simmer on low for 10-15 mins. till everything is blended and hot.  Soup will thicken slowly.  Make sure to serve this with fresh sourdough bread and or soup crackers. 



Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Are you ready for the best appetizer recipe ever?  This is my most requested appetizer dish.  This recipe originally came from Rachael Ray but I've tweaked a few things.  Mainly the portions.  If you are going to make these messy meatballs, you might as well make a lot.  This recipe will fill a 3 quart crock pot

4 lbs ground chicken

5 cloves of garlic , minced

1 large yellow onion, grated, minced

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 egg white

1 bottle of buffalo wing sauce

1 bottle of your favorite ranch dressing

Preheat your oven to 400.  Take your jewelry off.  In a large mixing bowl, using your hands mash together ground chicken, minced garlic, grated onion, parsley, egg white and 1 Tbsp of buffalo wing sauce.  Make spoonful size meatballs.  The ground chicken is very sticky and hard to work with.  They will not be smooth and pretty meatballs like beef.  That's okay.  Do the best you can to make them look like meatballs.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 mins.  When you pull them out there are 2 ways to deal with them. 

#1 Transfer hot meatballs to a warm crock pot and pour bottle of buffalo sauce over the meatballs.  Stir gently to coat.  Cover with lid and continue to keep crock pot on warm.  Serve with toothpicks and a side of blue cheese or ranch dressing.

#2  Cool meatballs completely and place in a freezer bag and freeze for a later date.  When the time comes, place in crock pot, pour bottle of buffalo sauce over the meatballs.  Stir gently to coat.  It will take almost 2 hours in a 3 qt. crock pot to get them hot.  Serve with toothpicks and a side of blue cheese or ranch dressing.

Rosemary Mustard Pork Chops

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lemon zest

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tbsp. dijon mustard

2 tbsp. spicy mustard

2 tbsp. fresh rosemary

salt and pepper

Mix all of these ingredients together and marinate for 2-3 hours (over night is best). Grill your pork and enjoy! If you're like me and enjoy warm applesauce with your pork, it's delicious!!  

Spaghetti Sauce

 

I'm pretty sure from now on if I have the time...I will always make this sauce when having Spaghetti or Lasagna.  Oh My Goodness!!!  This was delicious!  Who needs noodles I could've just eaten the sauce by itself!  This recipe comes from my Aunt Colleen. 

2 lbs ground beef or ground turkey

(you can use 1/2 mild italian sausage for the meat portion)

1 large yellow onion (chopped)

5 or 6 cloves of garlic (minced)

2- 15oz. cans tomato sauce

1- 6oz. can of tomato paste

1- 28oz. can diced tomatoes

1 cup hearty red wine

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. thyme

Pinch of rosemary

2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil till transparent.  Add meat and stir till meat is browned.  Add all other ingredients.  Stir well.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer sauce for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. 

This is good spaghetti or lasagna sauce.  Freezes well.  Makes a lot.  Enjoy!



Pumpkin Spice Bread

This bread is yummy! Spread some pumpkin butter or apple butter on while bread is fresh out of the oven, with a cup of tea or coffee and you have a wonderful fall treat. 

3 cups of sugar

1 cup veg. oil

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 (16 oz) can of pumpkin

31/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soad

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 cup of water

In a Lrg. bowl combine sugar, oil and eggs. Add pumpkin and mix well. Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl and add into the pumpkin mixture alternately with water. Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 60-65 min. or until knife comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min. before removing to a wire rack, to cool completely or you can skip that (like I do) and eat when warm.

Chocolate Peanut Macaroons

I came up with these because I didn't have all the right ingredients for the original recipe!  They turned out pretty good.  Makes 2 dozen.

2 2/3 cups shredded coconut

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

4 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped peanuts

2 cups of melting chocolate

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl, stir well.  Add egg whites and vanilla extract, stir well.  Stir in peanuts.  Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet.  Bake at 325 for 22 min. or until macaroons are golden.  Remove immediately to wire racks to cool completely.  While macaroons are cooling melt chocolate.  Dip bottoms of macaroons into chocolate.  Place on wax paper to cool and set.

Chicken & Dumplings

This is my Grandma Haynes recipe.  She made it from memory every time.  So to get this recipe I had to stand next to her in the kitchen one year and take notes while she made it.  Wish I could still do that.  There are so many more things I want to know.

5 raw boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 med. yellow onion (chopped)

4 ribs of celery (chopped)

2 carrots (chopped)

3 qts. of chicken stock (12 cups)

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp dried sage

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 Tbsp. butter

Place butter in hot stock pot.  Add onion, carrots and celery.  Let them sweat. (4mins.)  Add salt, pepper, thyme, sage and bay leaf.  Add chicken stock to the pot.  Add the raw chicken.  Boil at a rolling boil for 30 mins.  Pull bay leaf out.  Pull chicken out.  Shred the chicken and return it to the pot.  Let the soup simmer on med. heat while you make the dumplings. 

Bisquick Dumplings Recipe

2/3 cup Bisquick

3 Tbsp. milk

( I double this recipe for my family of 4. We like dumplings)

Stir ingredients till soft dough forms.  Drop spoonfuls onto boiling stew, reduce heat.  Cook uncovered for 10 mins.  Cover and cook another 10 mins.

The dumplings will puff up and float at first.

Then once they are cooked, they won't be as puffy and some will sink.

 Ladle out the chicken and dumplings into bowls and enjoy.