Deep Dish Fajita Pizza

When you see something that you think looks delicious and you just have to make it……. Deep Dish Fajita Pizza was it!

Deep Dish Fajita Pizza
Writing a food blog you get “ideas” sent to you all the time, or in my case I get tagged in a lot of the videos that surface on Facebook.

For some reason out of all the hundreds of videos I’ve seen, this one made my taste buds stand on high alert! Continue reading “Deep Dish Fajita Pizza”

French Bread Tomato Soup

Cool blustery days……I need soup……..French Bread Tomato Soup

French Bread Tomato Soup 6

Once fall has reared it’s beautiful albeit it chilly head, I want comfort food… casseroles, chili, stews and of course soup.

When I was a kid, tomato soup and grilled cheese was a fall and winter fav. Of course it was canned soup and white bread, and single sliced cheese. Over the years I have jazzed up my tomato soup collection and Tomato French Bread Soup is my latest addition.

French Bread Tomato Soup 1

Once again I have turned to my pressure cooker. I know I am repeating myself …….but really…….get one of these. If you are a busy family this is just your ticket for quick and tasty meals.

This soup is a veggie tomato soup, loaded with carrots, onions, red pepper, celery, and garlic. Chicken stock, tomato juice, canned tomatoes, a touch of lemon juice, sugar, and cayenne to your heat preference, then into pressure cooker for 15 minutes.

French Bread Tomato Soup 3

What makes this soup special are the french bread dumplings…….who knew you could cook bread in the pressure cooker????

Using Pillsbury’s Simply Rustic French Bread loaf, I cut it into 6 pieces, and tossed it with some spices, parmesan cheese, and olive oil.

French Bread Tomato Soup 4

After the soup had cooked for 15 minutes, I dropped the “dumplings” on top and cooked for another 6 minutes or so……..and ta da………Tomato French Bread Soup.
Kinda like chicken and dumplings …….only its Tomato Soup and dumplings. Warm and comforting. Perfect for a chilly night!!

I also included directions for a regular slow cooker, for those of you who do not YET own a pressure cooker.

Tomato French Bread Soup Collage

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French Bread Tomato Soup

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews
  • Author: Marty Boyd

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 cup celery, sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 128 ounce can diced tomato
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup tomato juice
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/81/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (to your desired heat)
  • 113.2 ounce can Pillsbury Simply Rustic French Bread, cut into 6 pieces
  • 1/2 teaspoon each, basil, fennel, and oregano
  • 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Instructions

  1. In a pressure cooker combine onion, carrots, red pepper, celery, and garlic. Stir in tomatoes ( do not drain), broth, tomato juice, lemon juice, sugar, and cayenne pepper. Set on High Pressure for 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, cut the french bread dough into 6 pieces and place in a large bowl. Add spice, parmesan cheese, and olive oil, toss to coat, making sure to evenly distribute the spices and cheese.
  3. After the 15 minutes, allow pressure cooker to set for an additional 10 minutes, then release pressure.
  4. Remove lid and place the french bread pieces evenly over the soup. Put the lid back on and set the pressure cooker to High pressure for 6-8 minutes. Allow to set for several minutes then release the pressure.
  5. Serve with additional parmesan cheese.

Notes

Slow cooker instructions:
Add the first 11 ingredients to a slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Remove lid and place bread pieces on top of soup. Replace the lid. If using low-heat setting, turn cooker to high-heat setting. Cover and cook for 50 to 60 minutes more. Do not lift lid during cooking time.

 

Peppercorn Steak Stuffed Potato

Peppercorn Steak Stuffed Potato

Peppercorn Steak Stuffed Potato

What to do with my beautiful green beans?????

Peppercorn Steak Stuffed Potato…………..

In our community,there is place called Arthur’s Garden Deli. They have awesome sandwiches, salad, and stuffed baked potatoes. Tim and I had sandwiches the other day, and the stuffed potato menu caught my eye. When we got home, I kept thinking about a stuffed potato and my green beans. My first thought was a steak, baked potato and green beans…………then light bulb moment!!!!! Why not stuff a potato with all of those ingredients?? No reason not too!

I purchased what I thought was a flank steak at my local grocery store, but when I opened the package, I discovered that it was very thinly sliced pieces. Good and bad, I had wanted to marinade a whole piece of flank steak, grill it, slice it thin, and put it in the potato….that’s the bad part…….the good part was that it saved me work being pre sliced, and the marinade really got into those thin strips.

Now, about the marinade, it has a lot of pepper!!! My spice loving hubby of course loves pepper…….he takes the cap off at restaurants and pours the pepper instead of shaking it…….he’s so cute……….. The dijon, balsamic, and red onions round out the marinade flavors. I marinaded over night but if you have the thin strips and are crunched for time even a few hours will do.

Green beans beg for bacon…….enough said.

Ok, so I had the potato, I had the steak, and I had the green beans. Baked potatoes need sour cream, and steak needs a sauce……hmmmm.

So, I kept the marinade with all that pepper and red onion, cooked it down, added beef broth and finished with sour cream……..Black Peppercorn Gravy.

To serve, I placed the beans on the plate, put the potato on top, stuffed it with the meat, and covered with the gravy…….ta da!!!!  The Peppercorn Stuffed Potato is born…….enjoy!

Peppercorn Steak Stuffed Potato Collage

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Peppercorn Steak Stuffed Potato

Peppercorn Steak Stuffed Potato

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews
  • Author: Marty Boyd
  • Yield: 2 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • Marinade:
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon peppercorn
  • 2 tablespoons black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
  • Ingredients
  • 3/4 pound thinly flank steak
  • 2 large baking potatoes, scrubbed
  • 1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
  • 3 slices applewood smoked bacon
  • 1/4 cup beef broth
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream

Instructions

  1. Whisk the first 7 marinade ingredients in a large bowl until emulsified. Stir in red onions and beef. Marinade for 6-8 hours or overnight.
  2. Place scrubbed potatoes in a 400* oven. Lay them directly on the oven rack or place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until their skin is crispy and sticking one with a fork meets no resistance.
  3. While the potatoes are baking, dice the bacon and place in a saucepan over medium high heat. Cook bacon until just crisp. Add trimmed green beans, and about 1/4 cup water stirring to mix with bacon. Cover and cook until beans are the desired doneness. (I prefer mine still tender crisp)
  4. Remove meat from marinade and set marinade aside. Cook beef over high heat for about a minute per side. Remove from pan and set aside.
  5. Place the reserved marinade in a small pan and bring to a boil. Add beef broth and return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in sour cream.
  6. Place beans on serving platter. Cut a slice in the center of each potato and pinch the potato open. Place meat inside the potato. Pour sauce over potatoes and serve.