For the Love of the Stove

I love Good Seasons Italian Dressing.  One of the packets had this recipe on it, but of course, I had to doctor it up a bit.  I wanted some heat and using water seems like it wouldn't give it much flavor.  Plus, I thought the instructions could use some tweaking.  (The original recipe didn't call for sauteing the onions first, but I think that would enhance the flavors.)
Ingredients
1 chipotles in adobe, minced (I added this so feel free to omit)
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, undrained, divided
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth (or a combination) - the original recipe called for water
1/2 cup onions, chopped
1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix
1 1/2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked
Directions
1.  Heat 1 T of  olive oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat
2.  Add onions and chipotles to the oil and saute until translucent. 
3. Place 1 1/2 cans of the beans in blender, cover.  Blend until smooth.  Add to the onions once translucent.
4.  Add the remaining beans, the broth and salad dressing mix; stir until well blended.  Bring to a boil on medium-high heat.
5.  Stir in rice.  Reduce heat to low; cover.  Simmer 5 - 10 minutes

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If you think you don't like Brie, think again.  It is one of my favorites, so this was a no brain-er for me.  (The daughter of one of my friends turned her nose up at the brie, however, when Kiera had her first bite, her eyes rolled back in her head.  She announced that she really, really liked it.)  Anyway, this is one of those recipes that, when I read it, I immediately added it to the list of recipes to try, sooner rather than later.  I always have a 16 oz can of crab meat in my fridge.  I always walk through the seafood department when I shop to see what's on sale.  If the 1 pound cans of Blue Crab go on sale I buy one or two.  They are usually good for at least two years, though they definitely never, ever last that long.  Two me, that's a smart buy.  Not only did the recipe sound delicious, it didn't require too much fuss.  It takes some time to cook the onions for the cheese sauce - but that's the thing with onions, low and slow and totally worth it.  The most involved part was making the cheese sauce.  (By the way, this will be the base that I use going forward for any mac and cheese recipe, just substituting the Brie with another cheese.)  You basically stand and stir until the base is thick, then stir in the cheese.  I watched the Steelers game and talked to my friends while I stirred.  Before I knew it the sauce was nice and thick and ready for the cheese.  I altered just a couple minor things.  I didn't want to buy a loaf of bread for three pieces, so I used panko instead. The recipe calls for two 6 ounce containers of crab, but I buy the 1 pound size so I used it all.  (It definitely wasn't too much.) I don't have eight 14 - 16 oz individual baking dishes so I used a lasagna pan, which I didn't spray with the non-cooking spray only because I forgot.  (The game was getting exciting and I wanted to watch, plus I was really, really hungry.)  I did add a bit of extra salt at the end, but that was a personal preference thing.  Marie and I both agreed that it needed more.  I couldn't wait for this to come out of the oven....I was practically drooling, ok, so maybe I really was drooling.  I also totally forgot to make a vegetable, thankfully I always have a bag of lettuce (I'm partial to the butter lettuces) in the fridge and that was a perfect side. 
Macaroni and Brie with Crab
The Potluck Cookbook (200 Recipes for Every Gathering and Every Night)
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
1 medium sweet onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup butter
1 pound dried medium shell pasta
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups milk (I used skim)
1 pound Brie cheese, trimmed and chopped (reserve 8 small wedges for topping, if desired)
2 6 - 6 1/2 ounce can lump crabmeat, drained, flaked, and cartilage removed
3 slices firm white bread, torn into large pieces
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat eight 14-to 16-ounce individual baking dishes with cooking spray; set aside. In large skillet cook onion in butter over medium-low heat about 15 minutes or until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook pasta in 4-quart Dutch oven according to package directions; drain and return to pan.
2. Add flour, salt, and pepper to onion in skillet; stir until combined, about 1 minute. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Gradually add chopped cheese; cook over medium-low heat until cheese melts. Stir into pasta. Fold in crab. Transfer to baking dishes.
3. Place bread pieces in food processor; cover and process to coarse crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over pasta mixture. Bake, uncovered, 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through and crumbs are golden brown. If desired, add a wedge of Brie to each dish the last 5 minutes of baking time. Makes 8 servings.

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This was one of those recipes that I read and just had to have.  The first chance that I got, I made this and it was as good as I thought it would be.  The only problem is that one recipe wasn't nearly enough.  It says it serves 4 to 6 but I think she meant 4 to 6 small children.  I'm making it again today (yes, I just made it for the first time last night but I must have more now......that and Lisa missed dinner last night and really, really wants some.....also right now).  Oh, one more thing, I used a large pot, like the recipe called for, so I couldn't use an immersion blender as there wasn't enough soup in the pot to immerse the blender - go figure.   Hopefully when I triple the batch, as I'm doing tonight, I can actually use it.  
From Marcela Valladolid
Serves 4 to 6
2 T olive oil
Ingredients
1 c chopped white onion
1 serrano chile (my grocery store didn't have serrano so I used 1 jalapeno instead)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans
1 c vegetable broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Mexican crema or sour cream
1 1/2 c tortilla chips (I skipped this part, though I'm sure it would have been delicious.)
1/4 c fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
1.  Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and serrano, and saute until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the beans with the cannint liquid and the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the flavors blend, about 12 minutes.  Discard the serrano chile.  
2.  Transfer to a blender and puree the soup until very smooth.  Return the soup to the same pot.  Season with salt and pepper.
3.  Ladle the soup into bowls.  Drizzle with crema and top with tortilla chips and fresh cilantro leaves.  (If you used sour cream, just stir it into the soup or a nice dollop in the middle.)

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