White Bean with fried Pancetta and Basil Soup

This recipe was a re-creation of a soup I had on Mackinac Island, Michigan. This was my favorite soup on the island and I have not had anything like it before. I made numerous times till I got it! It smells awesome as the pancetta and basil fry.
Cooked rice
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion cooked in oil
3 cans drained white beans or 1 bag of prepared dried beans.
3 cups water
2 one half inch slices of pancetta diced.
1/2 tsp garlic power or 1 glove fresh garlic
1 1/2 tsp Herbs De Provence
8 fresh basil leaves cut in half.
In large pot add onion, beans and water and cook on low to medium heat for 10 minutes. Mix once. You are now ready to emulisfy (pulverize) the beans. Remove soup from stove top. I use a Breville food processor for this step. You will emulisfy it until about half of the bean are gone. You do want to see some beans for texture and taste. Put back on stove on low heat.
Meanwhile, fry pancetta in small fry pan until slightly golden brown, kind of like cooking bacon. Add pancetta to bean mixture and then cook the basil right in the greese from the pancetta. Cook basil for about 10 seconds and remove with a fork. You don’t want all the greese from the pancetta just some. Add to soup. Cook soup for 20 minutes on low and stir every 5 to 10 minutes. Serve over rice and enjoy.

Publix

I have entered a contest sponsored by Publix. It is a chicken recipe. Chicken is easy to cook with. The ingredients for my recipe were all purchased in Publix. This is the first food big contest I have ever entered. November 4 is the day you will all know if I am a finalist. You will then be able to vote for your favorite, MINE!
Please keep posted to find out if I am one of the finalist.

How to make a Chuck Roast Boneless- Beef

2-3 lb roast
Salt and pepper or your favorite dry rub
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP Butter
Rub the salt and pepper or dry rub on roast and let sit for 15 minutes. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat OVEN safe fry pan(make sure it fits in oven) on stove top with Olive oil and butter over high heat. Next, place your roast in fry pan and cook for 3 minutes. Turn the roast over and cook for another 3 minutes. If the sides are thick, cook the sides for 2 minutes. Place fry pan in HOT oven and roast for 10 minutes. Turn roast over and drop oven temp to 300 for 60 minutes. Check roast to see if it is cooked. It should be cooked all the way but not dry. It may look dry but it is not. Let roast sit for 5 minutes and then remove and place it on a plate then cut across the grain. (cut opposite of pattern seen on meat) Make a wonderful gravy with the juice in the bottom of fry pan. Put fry pan on stove top and heat to a slow boil add beef bullion and 1/2 cup water. cook till hot. If you want a thicker gravy add 1 TBSP cornstarch to 1 TBSP water and add this mixture to fry pan and stir in a little at a time until thickness is achieved. Serve with baked potato or sweet potatoes and enjoy with salad.
this recipe can be done in a 2 day time period. Fry the roast on day one and then day two roast it in the oven. Make sure you get the fry down to room temp first before placing in oven. I will put a video up soon. Thanks for reading.

Publix Recipe contest

I have just entered my first recipe contest. It is the one Publix is having now. It is for chicken and I am going to win! The prize is a $5000 gift card to Publix. This will come in handy for sure. The rules state that I can’t share any information with you all but I can tell you it is delicious even if I don’t win.

Food for Thought @ FWB Public Library

You all know it would be only a matter of time before I mentioned the Fort Walton Beach Public Library. Ha. Katie, our Reference Librarain, will be hosting a Food club called Food for Thought on Oct 9th @ 12:00pm. We will discuss food and recipe books. It is a lunch time event so feel free to bring your lunch. There will be fun and a door prize. Call us at 850-833-9590 and ask for Katie or Nancy.