Try Something New Tuesday...Polish Dill Pickle Soup (Zupa Ogorkowa)

Welcome to this weeks instalment of Try Something New Tuesday.

One of the fondest memories I have as a child is the smell of my Babcia's (Grandmother in Polish) cooking. The smell of Polish food would flow from her kitchen and most of the time I was excited to dig into whatever dish she had prepared. I say most of the time because there is a short list of things I never tried and still at almost 40 refuse to try, that could be a blog post in itself!

One of the things she would make was Dill Pickle Soup, I know it sounds odd but trust me those who had never heard of it and tried it LOVE it! My husband and best friend are included in that bunch. When I would visit my Babcia as I got older she always made sure she had made some for me. I could never make it as good as she could until this past weekend! I had a craving and tried my best once again and this time I was SO CLOSE....I actually impressed myself! This is super easy to make and very inexpensive as well. You can add less or more of the ingredients, it is all in "the taste" as Babcia would say.

Polish Dill Pickle Soup (Zupa Ogorkowa)

6 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock (I use chicken)

4 large refrigerated dill pickles chopped

1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 -3/4 cup pickle juice from the pickle jar
3 cups chopped potatoes
1 small onion chopped (1/2 cup)

1/2 cup sour cream

Fresh Dill

In large pot melt butter add pickles, onions and flour. Saute until pickles are limp (5 minutes or so)

Add stock, pickle juice, potatoes and some fresh dill (about 1-2 Tablespoons-I just use kitchen scissors and clip until it looks like enough)

Simmer until potatoes are done, take about 2-3 cups of soup out of pot(mostly liquid) and let cool a few minutes. Add the sour cream to the soup you removed and whisk, slowly add back to pot. This will prevent the sour cream from curdling.

That's it! If you try this I would love for you to tell me about it!

Try Something New Tuesday...Kogel Mogel

Welcome to this weeks Try Something New Tuesday. Growing up my Grandfather who was from Poland, would make me something called Kogel Mogel. What is that you ask? Kogel Mogel is a dessert that is made with raw egg yolk and sugar. I know raw egg yolk, gross right? Well in the 1970's when I was a child we did not worry about things like semolina in eggs and thought nothing of eating this yummy dessert. My grandfather or Dzia Dzia as we called him would add all the ingredients into a coffee mug and whip it with a fork for what seemed like FOREVER, it was more like 10-15 minutes, until the yolks and sugar were the PERFECT consistency, pure heaven. Well we then learned that raw eggs were bad and some where along the line he stopped making it.

A few months ago I was at my local grocery store buying eggs when out of the corner of my eye i see "Pasteurized eggs" I stopped dead in my tracks! Davidson's Safest Choice Pasteurized eggs to be exact I almost screamed out loud!! The VERY FIRST thing I though of was Kugel Mugel and how my beloved Dzia Dzia would make it for me. I grabbed them and threw, I mean placed them in my cart.

I waited until after dinner to tell my children about Kogel Mogel and how I was going to make it for them later. My youngest was excited my oldest seemed a little grossed out. After dinner was cleaned up I grabbed the eggs and sugar and placed them into my coffee mug from Poland and grabbed a fork and began to whip away, i whipped and I whipped and I whipped, it seemed like forever. After about 15 minutes I was excited to be taken back to my childhood. I took a bite and tears filled my eyes, it brought back such wonderful memories of my Dzia Dzia. My youngest LOVED it, my oldest pretend like he liked it just for me as he has never requested it again but my youngest has. I went to the store the other day and they did not have them anymore! OH NO!!! I have another store to look at I do hope they are there otherwise I am going to contact the store I found them at originally and request they stock them!

Kogel Mogel

2 pasteurized large egg yolks
3 teaspoons honey or 3 teaspoons sugar

Put into coffee mug and whip for 10-15 minutes...enjoy!

I was not compensated in any way from Davidson's Safest Choice Eggs. I was just THRILLED to find them! :)

Try Something New Tuesday....Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce Meatloaf Review/giveaway

A few weeks ago I was sent 2 bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce to review, I was not sure what to expect or what I was going to use it with. When I opened the bottle to taste a little I was pleasantly surprised, it was quite tasty. It has a distinctive taste that I can not describe but it would be a perfect replacement for your everyday steak sauce.

How did County Bob's All Purpose Sauce come to be? Well, in 1968 Country Bob perfected the sauce of his dreams and after years of giving the sauce to friends and family as gifts he began to sell it in 1977. The reaction was overwhelming , almost everyone who tries Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce becomes a lifelong user, I know I am! They make several other products aside from the All Purpose Sauce like Spicy All Purpose Sauce, Seasoning Salt, BBQ Sauce, gift boxes and apparel. Country Bob's also has a plastics division where you can order plastic bottles for your own sauces or you can have have Country Bob make your sauce.

After some consideration I decided to make to make Country Bob's Meatloaf, EVERYONE in my house ate it and LOVED it, even my picky boys liked it and requested that I make it again.

Country Bob's Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs lean hamburger

1/4 cup chopped onions

12 crushed saltine crackers

2 eggs, beaten

1 T Country Bob's Seasoning Salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3/4 cup Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce (or may substitute Spicy)

1/4 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together, place in baking dish, shape in loaf, pour a little more Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce on top and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

So my conclusion is that I LOVE this stuff, will seek it out and I am going to try their other items as well, can you see me running down the street in a Country Bob's T-shirt? OK I will not be purchasing any apparel but it would make a GREAT gift for the die hard fan. I do look forward to trying their BBQ sauce, it HAS to be good!

Thanks to the very nice folks at Country Bob's I have 2 bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce to give to ONE LUCKY READER!

Here are the rules...PLEASE read carefully. THIS MUST BE DONE or all other entries will be deleted. Pay a visit to Country Bob's web site and come back here and in your comment tell me what product you would like to try and what you would use it for!

If you do not have a way for me to contact you through your blog or you do not have a blog PLEASE make sure you leave your email in your comment so if you win I can contact you! For additional entries which of course are ALWAYS optional

-Follow me on twitter and tweet this giveaway make sure you use @my2boyz and in tweet Leave link in comment (you can do this once a day-leave daily comment!)

-Follow me on Networked Blogs (2 additional entries-leave 2 comments)

-Follow my blog (2 additional entries-leave 2 comments)

-Comment on another blog post of mine, let me know what one in comment (4 additional entries-leave 4 comments)

-Giveaway ends on 2/23/2010 at 11:59 PM and winner will be chosen by random.org. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or new winner will be drawn.

Try Something New Tuesday....Blushing POM Holiday Cheesecake

Welcome to my Try Something New Tuesday...today it is dessert! A few weeks ago I was contacted by the kind folks at POM Wonderful, we love pomegranate juice in our house so I was happy to help them out!

POM Wonderful is a global brand committed to innovation and wellness. They grow and market their pomegranates and pomegranate-based products that are healthy, honest and essential to the well-being of humankind. They are the only company that grows, harvests, processes and ships our own pomegranates.

From their site:
Backed by Science
Only POM Wonderful products are backed by $32 million in medical research. Actually, we are the only pomegranate juice backed by any medical research at all.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the role of pomegranates in promoting heart health, prostate health and proper erectile function. But while these results are promising, keep in mind that all of the research has been done on POM Wonderful products. Our juice comes from a unique pomegranate variety (the Wonderful), which is grown in a unique location (California), and which is juiced with proprietary technology (ours!). No other pomegranate juice can claim these distinctions, and no other brand has been clinically tested.

So what are the medical results on POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice?

Cardiovascular

A 2005 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology showed improved blood flow to the heart in patients drinking 8oz daily of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice for 3 months.

Researchers studied a total of 45 patients with coronary heart disease who had reduced blood flow to the heart.

Patients drinking POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice experienced a 17% improvement in blood flow, compared to an 18% worsening in patients drinking
a placebo.

Prostate

An initial UCLA medical study, published by The American Association for Cancer Research, found hopeful results for prostate health.

The study tested 45 men with recurrent prostate cancer who drank 8 oz of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice daily for two years. Post-prostate surgery PSA average doubling time increased from 15 to 54 months. PSA is a protein marker for prostate cancer, and a slower PSA doubling time indicates slower disease progression.

Erectile Function

A pilot study released in the International Journal of Impotence Research in 2007 examined 61 male subjects with mild to moderate erectile dysfunction. Compared to participants taking a placebo, those men drinking 8oz of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice daily for four weeks were 50% more likely to experience improved erections.

Antioxidant Superpower

Numerous independent laboratory tests have shown that POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice has superior antioxidant content, ounce for ounce, compared to other juices and beverages.

WOW!! What an amazing fruit! I was asked to try out one of the many recipes on their site and I chose cheesecake! I must admit I have never attempted to make cheesecake before and this was so yummy! We had a few pieces and I brought the rest to work today and it was gone within minutes...the reaction was the same...YUMMY. I was asked by several people to bring in the recipe.

Blushing POM Holiday Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust:
2 cups graham cracker or chocolate cookie crumbs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
Filling:
4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping:
Juice from 34 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates* or 1 1/2 cups POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Garnish: (Optional)
1/3 cup arils from 1 large POM Wonderful Pomegranate
Fresh mint leaves
Preparation
Crust:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Stir together crumbs, sugar and butter until moistened.
3. Press evenly into bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.
Filling:
1. In a large mixer bowl beat cream cheese and sugar on medium speed of electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, milk, vanilla and salt just until blended. Pour over crust in pan; spread evenly.
2. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, until cake is firm at sides and soft-set (jiggles slightly) in the center. Do not over-bake.
3. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for up to 2 hours, then cover and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours before serving. (Refrigerate cake for up to 1 week.)
Topping:
1. Prepare garnish Score 1 fresh pomegranate and place in a bowl of water. Break open the pomegranate under water to free the arils (seed sacs). The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1⁄3 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.)
2. Prepare fresh pomegranate juice.*
3. In saucepan combine juice with sugar and cornstarch. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Cool slightly; spread glaze over cake.
4. Sprinkle reserved arils on top; garnish with mint leaves if desired.


I used graham crackers for the crust and I could not find ANY pomegranates ANYWHERE in my town, I think I just missed the season. I was only going to use them for the garnish as I had POM Wonderful juice for the sauce. I also used 2 packages of regular cream cheese and 2 1/3 less fat cream cheese.

ENJOY!!!




The opinions on my2boyz are that of the blog author. I do not take responsibility for a different outcome. I did not receive any monetary compensation. The only compensation I received was a case of POM Wonderful juice.

Try Something New Tuesday....Creamy Tomato-Basil Pasta with Chicken

Welcome to my first Try Something New Tuesday! I am so excited about the weekly feature as I have made the commitment to try a new recipe once a week, quite the undertaking if you know me personally! I am a creature of habit. I find my self making the same things over and over and it is getting BORING! So I hope you enjoy the new weekly feature and let me know if you try any of the recipes and your thoughts!

Last week I was approached by the Philadelphia Cream Cheese company asking me to try a new recipe and let them know our thoughts the timing was PERFECT! Seriously they had me at cream cheese!

Creamy Tomato-Basil Pasta with Chicken

Prep: 30 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

3 cups penne pasta, uncooked
¼ cup KRAFT sun-dried tomato dressing, divided
4 small boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
1 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
½ tsp. each garlic powder & black pepper
4 oz (1/2 package) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
2 cups grape tomatoes
½ cup KRAFT shredded parmesan cheese
8 fresh basil leaves, cut into strips

1. Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp. dressing in large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken, cover. Cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side or until done (165º F). Remove chicken from skillet, cover to keep warm. Carefully wipe out skillet with paper towel.
2. Add remaining dressing, broth, and seasonings to skillet; cook 3 to 4 min. or until heated through. Add Neufchatel; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until Neufchatel is melted. Stir in tomatoes, cook 3 min.
3. Drain pasta. Add to ingredients in skillet with Parmesan and basil, mix well. Serve topped with chicken.

All I can say is DELICIOUS!! This was so good and super easy to make. My husband thought it was wonderful and said "You can make this again, anytime this is yummy" My boys did not try it but then again they never eat ANYTHING I make unless it is tacos or pancakes.

The only change I made was with the Philadelphia Neufchatel Cheese, my local Wal-Mart did not have it and I did not feel like going to the grocery store for only 1 item so I used Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

So there you are my first installment of Try Something New Tuesday! Enjoy!



The opinions voiced on my2boys are the of the author. I do not take responsibility if you have a different experience then I did. The only compensation I received for this post was free product coupons and a Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook.