Focaccia

This is a wonderful, delicious bread to make. If you have a stand mixer, it's easy peasy. I love its versatility. I especially love it plain, fresh out of the oven. Once it's cooled, it's great dipped in balsamic vinegar and oil. If you have a panini press, then you can make some of the best sandwiches around with this stuff. And it takes mere minutes of your time to get it going.

Mix together the water, yeast, sugar, oil , and the first batch of flour. Mix on medium-low with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer until the dough is very elastic... maybe 6-8 minutes. It should become very stringy as it becomes more elastic.

Stop the mixer and switch to a dough hook. Add the remaining flour and salt. Knead the dough on medium-low for another few minutes until the dough is smooth. It will still be fairly sticky and will never quite pull away from the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Spray a bowl with oil and mound the dough inside. Spray the top of the dough with oil and then cover with plastic wrap to rise for an hour or until the dough doubles in size.

I kind of forgot about the dough for a bit, so it rose more than double... but it's not really a big deal. I just knocked the dough down and proceeded as normal.

Dump the dough out onto an 11 x 17 inch baking sheet lined with parchment. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on the top so you can easily spread the dough out. Just use your hands to spread the dough out to the edges of the pan. If it springs back too much, just let the dough sit for a few minutes so it can relax enough for you to spread it out.

Once it's spread out, let it rise, covered, for thirty minutes to get a little puffy. Then, remove the cover and drizzle a little more oil and use your finger to dimple the surface. You can let it go at that or sprinkle your choice of toppings on it before baking. In this case, I used shredded Parmesan cheese, basil, and sea salt, but you can use onions, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, or whatever else sounds good to you.

Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes, until it is golden brown. Use the parchment to remove the loaf from the pan onto a rack or board to cool. Ideally, you want to let it cool completely before cutting... if you can wait that long! I use a pizza cutter to cut this bread; I think it is the quickest way to get the nicest cuts. This bread can also be frozen and saved for later. I often bake one loaf and freeze half for a later date. You can even reheat this bread in the toaster (be sure it's thawed out first if it was frozen) for that fresh from the oven taste.


Focaccia
Yield: one 11x17 inch flat loaf

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 TBS instant yeast
1 TBS sugar
4 TBS olive oil
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix together the first five ingredients in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until the dough is very elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Switch to a dough hook and add the remaining flour and salt. Knead another few minutes on medium-low speed until the dough is smooth. It will still be sticky and will never quite pull away from the bottom of the bowl. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and then let sit in a warm place to rise until the dough doubles, about an hour.

Knock down the dough and let it rest for ten minutes. Dump onto a parchment lined 11 x 17 inch sheet pan. Drizzle a little oil on the top and use your hands to spread the dough out to cover the pan. Let dough rise, covered, for thirty minutes until it is slightly puffy.

Drizzle a little more oil over the surface and use your finger to dimple the surface. Sprinkle on any toppings you might like (such as garlic, basil, sun dried tomatoes, Parmesan, etc.). Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool before cutting and serving.

Breadtwists

This recipe is so easy and sooo good! They taste amazingly similar to the breadsticks at The Pizza Factory in Utah.  They even tasted good in the whole wheat version--you know you have a winner if whole wheat breadsticks taste good!

 Breadtwists (Our Version of The Pizza Factory Breadsticks)

From Favorite Family Recipes blog

1½ cups warm water

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. yeast

Let that sit for 5 minutes. Then add:

3½ cups flour

1 tsp Salt

Mix until smooth then let raise for 10 minutes. Roll out dough into a large square on a floured surface. Brush with melted (real) butter mixed with garlic and then sprinkle with kosher salt. Fold in half and cut into 1 inch strips. Twist and place on a cooking sheet. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes to raise. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately after baking, brush with more garlic butter and sprinkle with kosher salt and grated parmesan cheese.

Serve with marinara, alfredo sauce, or ranch for dipping.

*Dough also makes a great pizza dough, just roll out into a large circle, add your favorite toppings, and bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Slow-Cooker Stuffing

For any of you that haven't yet picked a stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving, look no further. I grew up on Stove Top and though it was good (How can stuffing be bad?) I have recently been converted over to the homemade stuffing. I'm bringing the stuffing this year to Thanksgiving dinner and I was kind of stressed because I've never made stuffing before. So what did I do? Allrecipes.com of course! I searched for the highest-rated and most rated stuffing recipe and this was it! I wasn't going to make this for the big day, though, without trying it out first and I'm really glad I did, because I tweaked it a little bit and it turned out fabulous. Happy Thanksgiving in 2 days!

Slow-Cooker Stuffing
adapted from allrecipes.com

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 cups onion, diced very small
  
• 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped very small
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 8 ounces sliced mushrooms, diced very small
  
• 12 cups dry bread cubes
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• up to 4 cups chicken broth, as needed
• 2 eggs, beaten

1. Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, mushroom, and parsley in butter, stirring frequently.
2. Spoon cooked vegetables over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten, and mix in eggs. Transfer mixture to slow cooker, and cover.
3. Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 8 hours.

Note: The amount of broth you add totally depends on you. Add more if you like mushy stuffing and less if you like dry stuffing. If you've added too much, you can take the lid of the crock pot off for the last hour or so and if you've added too little, just slowly add a bit more. If you like a crispy top to your stuffing, throw it in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes or until crispy.

Easy Baked Risotto

When I made this last week, I served it as the main dish for our dinner. Alongside the risotto, we had a medley of steamed veggies and fresh fruit. It was so delicious and what made it even better was how easy it was to put together, thanks to this baked risotto. Next time, I'm going to saute some onions and throw it in the oven along with everything else.


Easy Baked Risotto
Recipe from Ezra Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice

4 1/2 cups chicken broth (or any broth you have on hand)

3Tbs. butter

1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place rice and broth in large oven-proof pot. Stir to combine, cover with lid or foil, and cook for 45 minutes, or until rice is al dente and most of the broth is absorbed. Stir in cheese, butter, salt and pepper until combined and serve immediately.

Anniversary Bowtie & Asparagus Pasta

So delicious!  This creamy sauce is so rich and delicious.  And....it has asparagus so it has a vague feeling of healthy.  Very vague.  Very delicious.

Anniversary Bowtie & Asparagus Pasta

From Favorite Family Recipes Blog 

1 pkg. bow tie pasta
1/2 c. (1 cube) butter (the real stuff)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1-2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 pint heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
10-15 spears asparagus, blanched
1/2 c. bacon, crumbled
1/4 c. toasted pinenuts (or to taste)
Parsley, to taste
Parmesan cheese, to taste

Boil bow tie pasta in salted water until al dente. Do NOT over cook.
In wok or heavy skillet melt butter. Add minced garlic and saute a minute or so.
Add Parmesan Cheese and bouillon cube(s). When the bouillon cube is dissolved, slowly stir in heavy cream and salt & pepper. Add cooked pasta to cream sauce and toss until pasta is well covered. Add blanched asparagus. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon, toasted pinenuts, parsley & Parmesan cheese and toss together. Serve immediately.

White Fish in Sherry Cream Sauce

If you like creamy sauces as much as I do, you'll need to plan to make this dish as soon as humanly possible. Heck, even if you only are ambivalent about creamy sauces, you'll want to make this... it's just that darn good.

The first time I can recall smelling shallots sauteing in butter was when I was maybe eight and we were visiting friends in Paris. It was like I'd never smelled heaven until that moment. This dish takes it even farther by adding cream sherry and Gruyere cheese to make the tastiest sauce around. I made it with white fish. Pollock, I think. You can make it with any mild fleshed white fish or chicken breasts, if you're not a fan on seafood. If you choose to go the chicken route, just remember it will take longer to cook through than the fish will.

The first step is to saute the shallots and garlic in butter. You don't want the heat so high that they brown; cook them until they are softened. Then, add the flour, stir it into the butter, and then add the milk slowly, whisking continually so that you don't end up with a lumpy sauce.

When the milk is incorporated, add the cream sherry and stir until it just comes to a simmer and is nice and thickened. Remove from the heat and add the Gruyere cheese. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a small baking dish (9x9 or similar), spoon a bit of the sauce and spread across the bottom. Place the fish in a single layer on top of the sauce and then pour the remainder of the sauce over the top. Sprinkle the top with a little paprika for color. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until bubbly and the fish is cooked through.


White Fish in Sherry Cream Sauce
Yield: 3-4 servings

1 lb mild flavored white fish
2 TBS butter
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 TBS minced shallot
3 TBS + 1 tsp flour
2 TBS cream sherry
1 1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese
paprika (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a sauce pan, saute the shallot and garlic in the butter until softened but not browned. Add the flour and stir into the butter until a paste forms. Add the milk slowly, whisking constantly to reduce lump formation. Add the cream sherry. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to simmer and becomes nicely thickened.

Remove from the heat and add the cheese, stirring to incorporate. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spoon some of the sauce into the bottom of a small baking dish (9x9 or similar). Spread the sauce to cover the bottom. Place the fish in a single layer on the sauce. Pour the remainder of the sauce over the fish and sprinkle with paprika for color. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until fish is cooked through.

Candy Corn Cookie Bark

A fun Visiting Teaching Halloween surprise!
Candy Corn Cookie Bark

From Your Homebased Mom Blog

14 whole Oreos, broken up.  I used the Halloween ones with the orange filling but regular will work fine
1 1/2 C pretzels, broken into pieces.  I used the small stick pretzels
1 lb. white chocolate, almond bark or melts found in the bulk food section
1 C candy corn
brown and orange colored sprinkles
Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper.  Spread broken cookes, pretzels and about 3/4 C of the candy corn onto the waxed paper.  Place white chocolate in a container and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.  Stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds until melted and smooth.  White chocolate melts faster and burns easier than chocolate.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture, spreading with spatula if needed to coat evenly.  Sprinkle remaining candy corn and colored sprinkles over the chocolate while it is still wet.  Do not let it harden.  Place cookie tray into refrigerator until set and firm.  Remove and gently break bark into small pieces.  Store in air tight container.

{A Little Like Martha} Granola Bars

Yeah, I felt a little like Martha (Stewart, that is) the first time I made these. They are the prettiest little granola bars and the tastiest ones too. Granola bars are a huge staple in our house and I was sick of eating ones that tasted like a cardboard box. So, I went on a hunt to find the best. My search is over people...this is it.

Homemade Granola Bars

Adapted from 337 Greenwich

2 cups old-fashioned slow-cooking oats
1 cup sliced almonds (I got whole almonds and did a rough chop on them)
1 cup shredded coconut (don't get scared here- its not a huge flavor in the end)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
2/3 cups honey
3 tablespoons butter, plus a bit for the pan
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Chocolate chips (or any items you prefer in your favorite granola bar)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9x9 baking dish and line it with parchment paper. I also spray the parchment with cooking spray because my granola bars stick to the paper after cooling.  Toss the oats, almonds, and coconut on a sheet pan and cook for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Toast your wheat germ in a skillet on medium heat on stovetop (watch carefully- this will burn if not tended) until golden brown- about 3 minutes. Transfer oat mix to a large bowl and add the wheat germ. In a saucepan, over medium heat bring the butter, honey, vanilla, and salt to a boil. Cook while stirring for another minute. Then add the liquid to to the bowl of dry ingredients. Pour the mixture into the parchment lined pan by layers, adding chocolate chips to each layer as desired. I have used both mini and regular size chips- my favorite is the regular size...and I used semi-sweet (yum). Sprinkle some on top too! Bake at 300F for 30 minutes until lightly browned. Allow it to cool for at least 3 hours (or overnight) and then cut into bars or squares. Serve at room temperature or store in an airtight container.

Avocado Chicken

This is not a legitimate picture, but this dish always disappears before we ever even get a chance to snap one. Yes, its just that tasty. I got this recipe from my friend, Sheree, who is a great cook. You can trust this one- its amazingly delicious and really impresses. When we had the missionaries over for dinner and made this, one of the elders said it was the best dish he's ever eaten on his entire mission. Score!

Avocado Chicken

Sheree Nixon

4 chicken breasts

Butter

½ c. chopped white onion

1 clove minced garlic

1 pkg. fresh sliced mushrooms

2 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. celery salt

white pepper

½ c. chicken broth

½ cup white grape juice

2 avocados

1 ½ c. grated Monterey jack cheese



Cut chicken in half or pound til its thin. Sprinkle both sides with salt, black pepper, and flour. Saute with butter in large skillet until browned, but not cooked all the way through. Put chicken in 9X13 pan and set aside. In the same skillet put ¼ cup butter (or less, if desired) and sauté the onion, garlic, and mushrooms until soft. Add 2 Tbs. flour and celery salt, white pepper, chicken broth, and juice. Thicken. Stir in mashed avocados and ½ cup cheese. Pour sauce over chicken in pan and sprinkle remaining (1 cup) cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is light brown. I broiled mine for a few minutes at the end for crispy, brown cheese. Serve over noodles (I used spaghetti).

Pumpkin Puree

Well, we can all sigh a breath of relief.. the great canned pumpkin shortage is over. Oh... wait, but I never use the stuff. I never suffered one day by not being able to purchase canned pumpkin from the grocery store during the last year.

Why? Because I still have more pumpkin puree than I can use thanks to an over-abundant crop a few years back and the yearly jack-o-lantern. By the way, if you've never tried pumpkin pie made from pumpkin puree that hasn't been tormented in the pressure canner, you are missing out. To be honest, I simply can't eat pumpkin pie made from canned pumpkin. If you think there isn't a difference, compare eating frozen green beans to canned green beans.

I rest my case.

Now, if you're starting to feel like your house looks like this pumpkin field, then you need to convert that crop into orange gold! It's easy, especially if you have a food processor.

First, Cut the pumpkin in half. Cut out the stem and blossom end and discard it. You can see my dog, Stella, here suddenly decided that what I was doing was way more interesting than trolling for dead bugs and crumbs.

Once you've split them apart, Use a large spoon to scrape the insides out. Now this is a jack-o-lantern pumpkin, and a very mature one at that. See how stringy it is? It still makes a fine pie, but if you want the creme-de-la-creme, then you need to buy (or grow) the small pie pumpkins. Also, you may want to save the seeds to make toasted pumpkin seeds!

Once the insides are scraped out, place them face down on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet.

Tuck the edges of foil up around the pumpkin. It doesn't have to be a tight seal or anything, but you want to keep them from drying out too much while baking. Place the baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for one to two hours, depending on the size of your pumpkins.

Be sure your pumpkins are very tender before removing them from the oven. I use a cake tester to see how done they are. Obviously, the skin is always kind of tough, even when the inside is well done, but you can still gauge their doneness pretty well by poking them. If in doubt, let them cook a little longer. Overcooking is waaaaay better than under cooking them here. Let them cool completely at room temperature before moving on to the next step.

When they are cool, use a large spoon to scrape the now tender flesh out of the skin. You'll end up with a shell that can easily be discarded.

Look at that gorgeous color! Pumpkin out of a can never looked that good! See how fibrous it is at this point? If you only want to use this for pumpkin bread, you could simply stir it to break up the fibers a bit and call it good. If, however, there's a chance you want to make pumpkin pie or some such thing, then you need to puree it. And, I mean, puree it good. I hate pumpkin puree that's not smooth.

Here's where a food processor comes in handy. You can use a blender, but you have to use a lot more water and let it drain a lot longer. Working in batches, puree the pumpkin flesh with enough water to allow it to process very easily into a very smooth puree. Then pour the puree into a cheesecloth lined colander to drain. I use four layers of cheese cloth to be sure I don't lose any of that wonderful puree.

Let the puree sit and drain for a few hours. I find it helps to stir the puree from time to time. When it is dry enough to allow it to "stand-up" in pointy ridges, it's ready for the last step.

There are two main ways to freeze the puree. You can use freezer containers or zip top bags. I have used both. The zip top bags are nice because they thaw very quickly and stack fairly well in the freezer. The freezer containers stack even better and don't ooze at the seams when they thaw. Dang, but things just aren't made the way they used to be.

I usually freeze two cups together since that covers most of the recipes that I use. Oh, and, yes... that's a 2007 you see in the upper corner of that frozen puree. That's what so great about this stuff, especially if it's frozen in the baggies. Provided you are careful to get all the air out of the bag before you freeze them, these things will last for years without any freezer burn!

Chicken Chimichangas

Pros: easy, quick meal with all the ingredients on hand, can manipulate the ingredients, baked but almost taste fried.  A good, quick weeknight go-to meal.

Chicken Chimichangas 

From Our Family Treat Blog

3/4 cup salsa

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

2 cups shredded chicken

2 cups mexican style cheese

1/2 cup onion chopped

tortillas

1 tablespoon melted butter

Mix first six ingredients. Put about 1/2 cup of mix on tortilla, fold sides and then roll from bottom. Place seam side down on cookie sheet and brush with butter and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes.

**  I added black beans and some mexican rice on the inside of mine.  Yum!

Swiss Chicken

This recipe was introduced to me by none other then my mother-in-law (and queen of the kitchen), Julie Allred. I love this recipe because it's so delicious first and foremost, it's super easy, and you can use frozen chicken. So this is SO one of those recipes that I go to when it's 5:00 and have set out nothing to eat for dinner. Therefore, I go to the freezer to get out chicken and hurriedly throw this in. And, I don't even have a written recipe for it. It's that simple. It's in my head.

photo courtesy of allrecipes.com

Swiss Chicken

2-3 lbs of boneless skinless chix breasts (frozen or thawed...just adjust cook time accordingly)

2 cans of cream of chicken soup
2 soup cans full of water

1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper

Swiss cheese slices to cover chicken breasts

Pepperidge farm "Herb Seasoned Stuffing" ***this is very important. It is in a blue and white bag not a box. Again, very important.

Lay chicken breasts in 9x13 inch casserole pan. I like to cut my chicken in half lengthwise so they are not thick. They cook faster and you get a lot more flavor per bite. Put a layer of deli sliced Swiss cheese over the chicken (I dare you to put two). Then in a bowl mix water, soup and S&P with whisk. Pour over chicken and cheese. Top with ample stuffing. This picture is SO not what mine looks like. I put about a 1/4 inch of stuffing on top. Cook at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes depending on the state of your chicken- frozen or thawed.

(Sorry about the wierd spacing. I don't get it. Blogger did it.)

Fried Cornbread

I've made these things for a long time, ever since I first learned how to properly deep fry food when I first lived in the South back in the early nineties. I think it's kind of funny that after all these years, the other night was the first time it ever dawned on me to use a portion scoop to make them. Previously, I dropped the batter from a spoon and always ended up with a nice free-form look to them.

The portion scoop makes a really nice, beautiful globe of fried goodness. I suppose it makes them look like hush puppies... which I guess technically they are. I'm not sure any true Southerner would call these hush puppies, however. In my experience, hush puppies are much more dense than these balls of fried cornbread.

I made them two different sizes the other night. What you see in the above picture is the larger size. The 2 tablespoon portion scoop made large 2-bite balls that took a good while to cook all the way through and were a little more dense. The 2 teaspoon portion scoop made perfect single bite nuggets that weren't quite so perfectly shaped, but ended up much lighter and almost fluffy inside. The smaller ones also cooked much more quickly, which was good for me since I am very impatient.

Make them whatever size you want, just be sure that you don't have your oil heated too hot or the outside will get too dark before the inside is completely cooked. There's nothing worse than having a gooey-inside piece of fried cornbread. To be sure they're cooked all the way, stick an instant read thermometer inside and look for a temperature above 175 degrees F.

Mix together the wet ingredients. I used creamed corn I had put up in the freezer, but you can certainly use canned cream corn.

Then mix together the dry ingredients. Yellow cornmeal is a must here to get that gorgeous yellow hue in the finished product. Fry for 2-5 minutes (depending on their size) in oil that is between 330 and 360 degrees F. I like to start with the temperature on the high side so that after I add a few blobs of batter, the temperature is still high enough to get a good crust on the finished product.

Fried Cornbread
Yield: approximately 20-40 pieces, depending on size

1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup creamed corn
2 TBS melted and cooled butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup diced onion

Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and then add the wet to the dry mixture. Stir thoroughly. Drop by the spoonful (2 tsp to 2 TBS) into hot oil (approx. 330 to 360 degrees F) and cook until golden brown and cooked through. To ensure they are completely cooked inside, use an instant read thermometer to check for a temperature over 175 degrees. Let cool slightly on a paper towel before serving.

NOTE: Smaller pieces will have a lighter, fluffier texture than large pieces, which is simply a matter of personal preference. If you want an even lighter, fluffier end product, add a little more milk so that the batter is a little looser; this allows for quicker expansion when the batter hits the hot oil, leading to a lighter cornbread.

Tortilla Soup

This is another soup we had at our Souper Saturday.  I loved it!  Plus--added bonus--very low on calories!

Tortilla Soup
From Melissa Pickard

Ingredients:
14 oz can tomatoes, undrained
1 med. onion diced
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 big bunch cilantro
1/4 t sugar
Tabasco to taste
5 c chicken broth
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 c monterey jack cheese, shredded
2 medium avocados, cubed
tortilla chips

Directions:
In blender, combine undrained tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro, and sugar.  Blend until just chunky.  In large saucepan, add vegetable mixture and chicken broth and chicken pieces.  Simmer 20 minutes.

To serve:
Place cheese, avocado, and chips on bottom of bowl.  Pour hot soup over.  Serves 4-6.

*If wanted add 1 can drained black beans and/or 1 can drained white corn

Tomato Basil Soup

This is my favorite Tomato Basil Soup recipe, and I love Tomato Basil soup. If you've ever tried Nordstrom cafe's Tomato Basil, this one actually is comparable. Yes, it's that good. Try making your own garlic/parmesan toast to dip in it, and it is heaven!

Tomato Basil Soup

this recipe came from my sister-in-law, Debbie

1/4 cup butter

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp. Dried thyme

1/2 tsp. Dried crushed red pepper

1 bay leaf

2 28 oz. Cans crushed tomatoes with added puree

6 cups canned low-salt chicken broth (I use water and chicken bouillon)

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1-2 cups cream

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and next 5 ingredients. Cover; cook until onion is tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth, and basil. Cover and simmer 40 minutes. Discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Puree in blender and then add the cream (this step is optional). Serve. This is really yummy with small toasted parmesan/garlic toast slices to dip into it (try sourdough bread). Also yummy with meatballs in it. Freezes well.