I finally have some time to pay up on my Donor's Choose challenge. I made payment for Jade's generous donations to the cause, and then I went on a self-inflicted hiatus when Genomic Repairman was kind enough to donate his winnings to my kiddies as well. Thanks GR (and Brian who issued the challenge). In your honor, here are two more recipes.

Recipe #3 (TJ's Comfort Food)

Nacho Chicken Casserole

Ingredients

6 boneless chicken breasts, skinned, and excess fat removed

Bag of Doritos (a big bag)

Chili powder

Can of Cream of Chicken (15 ounces) *Can use Cream of Mushroom instead*

1 bag (8 ounces) Fiesta Blend Shredded Cheese *Any multi-cheese mix will do, preferrably spicy*

Onion, Paprika, Cumin (all optional)



Instructions

1a. Grill the chicken breasts and cut into bite sized chunks (or shred).

1b. Cut a small slit into the Doritos bag to let air out. Then crush all the nachos into small bits.

2. Place a layer of nachos into the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish.

3. Sprinkle some chili powder onto crushed nachos (can also put cumin or paprika and/or onion).

4. Lay a third of the chicken onto nachos.

5. Lay a third of the cream of chicken soup on chicken.

6 . . . More

Here is my family recipe, as promised in my Donor's Choose challenge. If you like this recipe, and want more ... you've got to donate! As long as you donate, I'll make good on my promise and post two recipes. One will be a family recipe or my choosing, the other will be a recipe for one of my favorite comfort foods (so technically they will both be family recipes). If we get to $250, I'll post a family secret cheescake recipe, and if we hit $500, I'll post the other.

Now here we go, my family recipe of the week. It's pasta e fagioli (pronounced sort of like pasta fah-zule) where zule sounds like yule, as in the log. ;) It's typically a meatless dish, but you can add a pound of cubed beef to it if you can't go a meal without consuming animal flesh (I'm looking at you Brian). Some people and restaurants* use ground beef ... whatever you do, don't ruin this good meal using ground beef. I beg you.

Pasta e Fagioli

Ingredients:

1 pound beef, cubed, and browned in olive oil (optional)

1 pound pasta (I grew up with ditalini rigati, which look like small tubes, but you could get away with penne rigate or gremiti here)

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) of beans (you can use red kidney beans, but I like cann . . . More

[Summary: Thomas Joseph makes good on the first donation to his Donor's Choose campaign.]

So Jade came through with a nice donation to my Donor's Choose campaign. Therefore, it's time I make good on my promise/bribe to provide two recipes (one a family recipe, the other a comfort food) for my readership. I said I'd post my Italian Wedding Soup recipe, but it's one that isn't in my cookbook yet. I'll be getting the recipe from my mom this weekend, so I may post it as a bonus recipe later this week. However, I do have a good soup recipe to post. Since Jade is a big fan of soups, I'll post my mom's stew recipe as my comfort food too. Most of these recipes are fairly simple and rustic, and don't take too much time to prep (at least I don't consider them too). If you have questions about any of the recipes, feel free to ask.

TJ's Mom's Stew (Comfort Food)

Ingredients:

2 pounds of meat (beef or pork, but venison works best), cubed

1 large onion, diced and sauteed

Several carrots, peeled and diced

Several potatos, peeled and cubed

15 ounces of tomato sauce

1/4 cup of water

can of peas (12 ounce can, or a bag of frozen peas)

Teaspoon of Gravy Maste . . . More