Jan D'Atri

Jan D'Atri > Jan’s Recipes > pepper

pepper

Homemade Soup from a Can

by

For many of us, we are navigating our way through uncharted territory; rationing food, getting to the stores at 4:00 am to stand in line for toilet paper and living with the uncertainly of what tomorrow will bring. Growing up in a family where my parents lived through both WW2 and the Great Depression, the conversations around the dinner table growing up often reflected the hardships of those times, the appreciation of what we now had, the importance of not wasting food and learning how to stretch the meal budget. This recipe is inspired by those conversations during these tough times.  If your pantry is anything like mine, it’s a hidden treasure of cans! Many of those cans will help turn vegetables into a gourmet soup!  The same principals will apply with any can of vegetable that you choose for your soup. You can make it creamy, spicy, and brothy or add any spices that you like. Just open a can of veggies, like peas, and turn it into a hearty meal. The two fresh ingredients that really make the soup gourmet-tasting are garlic and onion. Once you’ve sautéed those up in some butter, you’re good to start adding your favorite flavorings.  You’ll have homemade soup from a can of veggies in minutes and you’ll be surprised and pleased at how tasty your meal is!

Watch my how to video here!

Lasagne Soup

by

Allow me to introduce you to my new favorite dish! If you love lasagna, you’re going to absolutely be giddy over making this simple soup that tastes exactly like lasagne! I can’t stop making it for friends and family, and I sort of get a kick out of watching them come back for seconds….and thirds…and then holding their tummy because they’ve eaten too much! Be prepared for the same reaction! This Lasagne Soup is just scrumptious! I often hear that folks love lasagne but only order it in restaurants because it’s rather tedious to assemble. With Lasagne Soup, it’s a One Pot Wonder of deliciousness without the stress. In fact, you don’t even cook the lasagne noodles ahead of time. You simply throw the raw noodles into the soup! It’s just as delicious whether you use turkey, beef, Italian pork sausage or a combination of all three! One of the things that really makes it taste like lasagna is the ricotta mixture that you dollop on top of the soup when you plate it! If you like Italian cuisine, if you like easy, if you like to please people with a hearty dish that they will adore, then I hope you make Lasagne Soup soon!

Watch my How To Video for Lasagne Soup here!

Chicken Pot Pie

by

It’s the comfort food of comfort foods; the recipe that your grandma knew by heart and the dish that you get excited about when you find it on restaurant menus. Chicken Pot Pie is just one of those out-of-this-world meals that is so easy to make, or make ahead or freeze! Serve it up for a nice family meal, and I’ll bet it’ll be on your menu rotation often! If you have a delicious homemade pie crust recipe, use that for your pie toppers. This recipe will serve 4 individual (on the large side) servings so you’ll need enough dough for four bowls. When I want to make Chicken Pot Pie quickly, I’ll grab two packages of refrigerated or frozen pie crust. (There are two pie crusts per package.) I’ll roll it out, place my serving bowl on top of the dough, then cut around the bowl. When I fill the serving dish with pot pie filling, I’ll just add the dough round to the top. Chicken Pot Pie is a tried and true treasure!

Watch my How To Video for Chicken Pot Pie here!

Compound Butters

by

Do you love a great steak? A juicy piece of chicken? Savory seafood? How about adding a ton of flavor to a baked potato or a slice of grilled French bread? I’ve got the flavor bomb you need for all of these dishes and so much more! It’s called Compound Butter and it just elevates the flavor of so many foods in a very simple way! Compound butter is a real restaurant secret! It’s used a lot in high-end steak houses and many other establishments, and now you have the recipes to make your own right at home. Compound butter is simply unsalted butter, extra virgin olive oil and fresh herbs and spices mixed together and refrigerated. You can make one basic all-purpose compound or create several compounds with ingredients that enhance certain foods. For my compounds I use unsalted butter so I can control the salt content, and besides, in my opinion, unsalted butter just tastes better. Then you will add chopped fresh herbs, some spices and salt and pepper. I love the idea of compound butters because once you make them, you just roll the butter combination into logs on parchment paper, keep them in your refrigerator and use them any time you want! Flavor bombs, for an explosion of flavor!

Watch My Video for Compound Butter here!