Chicken Soup for the Soul
I was at the farmer's market Wednesday to order my 32+ pound Thanksgiving Turkey, and picked up a stewing hen while I was there. There is just nothing more flavorful than soup or stew made with a stewing hen.
Into the pot the bird went with carrots, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaves, and about 3/4 bottle of white wine I've been using for cooking. I simmered it all day Wednesday and Wednesday evening, strained the broth and removed the chicken. After cooling, they both went into the 'fridge.
Yesterday afternoon, the fun began - clean out the 'fridge! The broth went into the pot along with celery, carrots, fresh peas, green beans, 2 different leftover cooked brown rices, chopped up mustard greens, and a bag of tortolini - and a goodly amount of chicken. (There's at least one - if not two - other meals from the chicken!)
It was sooooo good! Really rich, chicken flavor and lots of good vegetables. I almost licked the bowl. And the garlic bread was the perfect accompaniment.
Turkey Soup
It was cold today - at least this west coast blood thought it was cold today - and cold means soup at my house!
I had cooked a small turkey breast on Thursday, and with plenty of meat and a carcass, I set to work.
Soups are generally 'clean out the refrigerator' meals, and today's soup was no exception. Into the pot went the stripped carcass, broth, an onion, some questionable celery, a slightly dried half-head of garlic and a bit of S&P. I boiled and then simmered the stock for a couple of hours and then drained it all. I salvaged whatever turkey meat I could, and then the broth went back into the pot.
Into the pot went the leftover gravy from Thursday night, along with the elbow macaroni and gravy Victor concocted Friday when I was at work. I chopped up the rest of the celery, carrots, and then added a melange of partial bags of frozen vegetables that were just taking up space in the freezer - and not enough of any one of them for a meal.
A half a loaf of a crusty whole wheat batard finished off the meal - and finished me off, as well!
Start-to-finish a couple of hours. Actual work time was less than 15 minutes. AND we not only had a great dinner, we now have a clean 'fridge, to boot!
Chipotle Chicken
We've been having a lot of food fun the past few days... Our friend Dorrie and her son Jordan are down visiting from Boston - and that means getting to cook even more food than we usually do!
We had planned on going over to Victor's brother's house for the 4th - they're out of town and have a pool - but the weather just wasn't cooperating, so... we just BBQ'd at home. Hot dogs, burgers, ribs, three different types of sausages... It was yummy. Of course I cooked a bit too much... So...
Last night I decided to just do a bit of a clean out the 'fridge dinner... I took the leftover sausages - andouille, chorizo, and spicy Italian - and sliced them up. I fried up a bunch of onions and mixed peppers, and added tomatoes and lots of chipotle pepper and cumin. I then grilled a couple of chicken breasts and added them to the pot.
Boiled up some egg noodles, and voila! Dinner was served!
It was spicy hot without being 5 alarm, and we had some crusty bread to sop up the sauce. Simple and satisfying.
Dessert was a snap... We just got in puff pastry at work, so I baked off a sheet and after it came out of the oven, i split it in two. Earlier, I took some raspberries and sprinkled a bit of brandy over them.
I whipped up some cream, spread half on the pastry, added the raspberries, more cream, and then the top. Can we say "Yummy" boys and girls?!?
I have a whole chicken marinating in the 'fridge for tomorrow.....
Advance Planning
10 minutes in the kitchen this morning will save me lots of time today and tomorrow... I made a couple of simple marinades! (Well, actually, I put some chicken and a brisket into ziplock bags and added some stuff.) Really easy!
At yesterday's grocery shopping spree, I bought 4 chicken breasts and a small beef brisket. I love bbq'd brisket, and chicken is a mainstay in our house - so many things to do with it. And since it's hotter (and muggier) than hell outside, grilling is the only way to go.
I bought a 4-pack of avocados the other day and want to use them up before they turn into guacamole on their own, so I thought grilled chicken on a bun with sliced avocado and tomato would make a lovely lunch. (I also bought a packageof ww buns, and wanted to use them up before they turned into hockey pucks...) A nice Mexican-inspired marinade would work well with the avocado... So... into the ziplock went a bit of safflower oil, garlic, cilantro, cumin, and chipotle powder, salt and pepper. Done.
I had originally thought simple BBQ sauce would be fine for the brisket, but since I'm doing Mexican for lunch, Asian would be better for dinner. Into the next baggie went soy sauce, safflower oil, a bit of sesame oil, star anise, szechuan peppercorns, chopped garlic, and rice wine. Also done.
For tomorrow's chicken, I went out to the herb garden and picked fresh basil, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and parsley. Into the baggie it all went with more fresh garlic, olive oil, and some white wine. It should make a pretty good addition to a big green salad.
10 minutes, three meals, and I'm now ready to lounge around the pool. Oh. Wait. i don't have a pool. Maybe I'll start grilling that chicken for lunch!
A couple of hours later and I'm feeling juuuuust fine! the chicken sandwich came out most excellent! I made an adobo mayonnaise by adding a bit of adobo sauce from the canned chipotles in adobo that were in the 'fridge. A bit of avocado and we had great, sloppy sandwiches!
About 3pm I'll put the brisket on the grill to s-l-o-w cook!
Tapioca Pudding, Chipotle BBQ Sauce, and Chipotle Spice Rub
Last week I was ordering some new spices from my favorite spice company Atlantic Spice Co. I know, I know... everyone's favorite online spice company is now Penzey's, but Atlantic Spice (and their sister company San Francisco Herb Co.) is still my store of choice.
I had seen a few recipes lately calling for cardamom and coriander. The prices in grocery stores for spices are ludicrous and there was just no way I was spending $11.99 for a thimble full of cardamom powder! Also, I wanted to refill my smoked paprika and wanted some chipotle powder. Atlantic Spice does have a minimum $25.00 shipping order, so when I calculated my total - $22.50 - I went back to see if there was something else I couldn't live without. I found a pound of pearl tapioca for $3.70/pound.
Homemade tapioca pudding has always been a favorite dessert - and one that I have seldom made. I had a recipe that had been sitting around forever, so when the packager arrived Tuesday, I was set to go! I'm actually not sure who the recipe is from - it's handwritten on a scrap of paper... but it's old...
A small summer storm came through the area, knocking out our power for 33 hours, so the pudding was put on hold until yesterday. And boy, was it worth the wait!
Rich, creamy, decadent! Better than anything one could buy.....
Tapioca Pudding
- 1 cup tapioca
- 4 c cream
- 2 c milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 c sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Soak tapioca in water about 4 hours. Add cream, milk and salt. Heat and stir until boiling. Simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sugar gradually. Beat yolks. temper with some of hot tapioca. Mix into rest of mixture. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Add vanilla.
Simple directions... One thing to note is this is for pearl tapioca - not "instant." And it does take about an hour to make. (I set the timer for 10 minute intervals to come in and stir...) And when it was done, I put it into a bowl and placed plastic wrap directly on the pudding to keep a skin from forming. The recipe could easily be halved - but that would mean only half as much pudding for the same amount of work!
I was on a bit of a roll... No power for 33 hours made me want to get into the kitchen, I guess (not that I ever seem to want to get OUT of the kitchen, mind you!) So it was time to also make Chipotle BBQ Sauce! (It's not unusual for me to have simultaneous pots bubbling on the stove!)
Chipotle BBQ Sauce
- 2 cups catsup - organic, of course! No high fructose corn syrup!!
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 4 tablespoons chipotle powder
- 2 tablespoons dry mustard
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
Mix all ingrdients in a saucepan and simmer about 15 minutes. It is kick-a-poo GREAT!
And I had to make a Chipotle Spice Rub because... well... I have all the ingredients!!
Chipotle Spice Rub
- 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
- 1/2 cup dried oregano
- 1/4 cup chipotle powder
- 1/4 cup smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup powdered garlic
Mix everything in a food processor until powdery. That's it!
Last night, I used the powder on pork chops and then grilled them. They were most excellent! I made white rice to which I added a few tablespoons of hot fresh salsa, and had fresh corn on the cob on the side... And with warm tapioca pudding for dessert, it was gastronomic heaven!
Now... to find those recipes calling for cardamom.....
Clemen's Market, Italian Sausage, and Polenta
This past Thursday found me getting a picture taken for my new driver license. I can't believe we've been here over 5 years already! The renewal process is a bit strange in Pennsylvania. One can renew a license at an "Auto Tag" store or online. I chose the online option, only to find out that I still had to go to the Photo Licensing Center to have my picture taken! So much for efficiency!
The center is in a strip mall in Frazer, about 15 miles from us down Rt 30 - Lancaster Avenue. I was in and out in about 10 minutes, and noticed a Clemen's Family Market in the center. I have heard of Clemen's, but had never been in one...
I'm not quite sure what the hype is all about, because i don't think I'll be making the trek back there again too soon! The store was nice enough, I guess, but walking in, it was dark. Really dark. With a brown open, exposed ceiling and low lights - and flowers abounding, it was decidedly cave-like walking in. Not unwelcoming, but not welcoming, either.
The first area I walked by was the in-store bakery. Some great looking products in cases, a plethora of donuts and bagels, lots of freshly baked breads and bagged rolls, and a stand-alone display of different sandwich rolls. Rolls with no price. I looked and looked, walked up and down, checked some more. No price. No posted price for me means an automatic no purchase. i walked over to the produce section.
It was colorful and the produce was nicely displayed. Pricey, too. I had done my major weekly shopping the day before, so really didn't need any more fresh stuff, anyway. I started walking the aisles.
One of my more favorite things to do is walk the aisles of a quiet grocery store. I love walking by products and 1) mocking them for their partially hydrogenated, overly processed, mass-consumerism, or 2) stopping and finding new and unique products hiding amongst the mass-produced junk. What i found strange about this store was how disjointed the aisles were. Walking down an aisle, out of the blue, would be shelves full of items totally unrelated to anything else in the aisle! In my way of thinking, items should at the very least compliment one another in an area. Finding vinegar with the cereal is not my idea of efficient cross-merchandizing!
I walked by the deli counter twice, and kept seeing the guy back there - with his plastic gloves on - scratching, fiddling with his hat... My third trip by, I saw a different guy pulling on fresh gloves. I ordered some sliced ham and sliced cheese. He changed his gloves when he finished.
I made it over t the meat department and did find a huge box of Italian Sausage on sale, or rather "discounted 50%" with my Clemen's card. I picked one up. I grabbed a couple more items - some red wine vinegar I keep forgetting to buy, a loaf of Italian Bread (the only one that didn't have high fructose corn syrup in it!) and made my way up to the cashier - a very helpful older gentleman who ran over to the customer service desk for me to get my discount card application.
He was actually the best thing in the store! He explained the card to me, told me about other places it is good, showed me the 'extra $5.00 off" discounts for spending $40.00. And he thanked me for bagging my own groceries.
As I said, it wasn't a bad experience, but it wasn't a great one, either. And since the store is definitely out of the way for me, I'd have to make an effort to go there - and it just didn't seem like it would be worth that effort.
Which brings me to dinner tonight! I cooked up a bit of the Italian Sausage - and it was very good!
I was feeling a tad lazy today! We had taken the puppy to the dog park, and got home just before the latest torrential downpour hit! (We actually received 2" of rain in less than an hour!) It was cool in the house, so, looking into the well-stocked 'fridge and finding most of an onion and most of a bell pepper all nicely wrapped, a pound of mushrooms - and my package of sausage - a bit of a sausage fry was in order! And... with a bag of polenta in the cupboard, a sausage fry over creamy polenta was definitely the ticket!
I sliced up 8 chunks of sausage, and sliced the onion and pepper into strips. Threw them into a skillet with a handful of sliced mushrooms, a splash of olive oil and some fresh garlic. When everything was nicely browned, I added a can of diced tomatoes and a bunch of fresh basil from the garden and let it simmer.
Meanwhile, I made the polenta. 2 cups of milk, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup of polenta. i cooked it, stirring now and again, and then added a tbsp of butter and a handful of shredded cheese.
Into the bowl it went, with the sausage and peppers on top. A healthy grating of Locatelli on top, and it was a yummy dinner!
Spring Cleaning
I cleaned the grill today. It's not as if it really needed it, or anything. I mean, we only bought it 4 years ago... I always clean the grills, but I haven't ventured inside since I put it together. It was pretty skanky in there. Out came the shop vac, which captured most of the crud. I soaked the grills and the briquettes, cleaned the burners... Put it all back together and it's almost like brand-new! I then got industrious and washed the truck. It had probably been a year since that was cleaned, too. Something about a beautiful Spring day that had me yearning to be outdoors, instead of in front of the computer where I can usually be found...
Before starting my cleaning chores, though, I started marinating tonight's dinner. Another salad, of course. This time, with grilled chicken and grilled vegetables.
I cut up 2 chicken breasts, and put them in a ziplock with chopped lemongrass, basil, cilantro, rice wine, soy sauce, garlic, green onion, a splash of grapeseed oil, chili paste (sambal oelek) and black pepper. Into the 'fridge it went. I turned it a couple of times - whenever I went to get a seltzer water. (No coca-cola for this kid!)
With a clean grill awaitin' me, I chopped up some celery, carrots, broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms, cilantro, and basil and did a quick marinade of rice wine, soy sauce, grapeseed oil, and garlic.
What a difference cooking with a cleaned out grill! If I had half a brain, I'd clean that thing a bit more often! (Don't anyone hold their breath...)
Everything cooked up great. The sun was shining... The smoke and smells were wafting through the neighborhood... A picture-perfect 78 degree day. Everything came off the grill, and back inside to put it all together...
Mixed greens, the aforementioned veggies, a sprinkling of raspberries and blackberries - because I had them - the chicken, and a simple dressing of olive oil, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, S&P.
It just doesn't get any better than this.....
The Chicken That Keeps On Giving...
Oh, the weather outside is frightful... heck, it's COLD outside! Cold means casserole. Casserole means using up what's in the house. In the house is half a roasted chicken! Dinner solved.
This really was an easy one tonight. I pulled off all the chicken from the carcass and set it aside. The carcass went into a pot with the leftover gravy, chicken broth, and some water. I let it simmer for a while whilst I got my hair cut. I'm king of multi-tasking!
Hair cut, showered, and ready to head back into the kitchen... ! strained the broth, added the chicken, some frozen mixed vegetables and heated. Cooked a package of Organic Sprouted Wheat Papparrdelle Pasta, drained and added to the pot.
Into the casserole dish, topped with buttered bread crumbs, and into a 375 degree oven. I could have put it into a lower temp oven, but it was cold outside. 30 minutes later it was dinner!
Rumor has it we're supposed to start getting warmer weather. I sure hope so. In the meantime, though, casseroles are the best way to get through those bone-chilling days!
(I must admit, though, my waistline is looking forward to a few months of salads!)
Baby it's coooold outside!
Okay. Someone tell Mother Nature that the calendar says April, not January! The sight of white stuff falling from the sky this morning made me rethink BBQ. Mere days ago it was salad weather. Today?!? Something more substantial. I'll grill outside in just about any weather, but today made me think I wanted something that would warm up the house, as well as my tummy!
There was beef stew meat in the freezer, so out it came. Stew is a great cold-weather friend!
I've mentioned before that I sometimes have a wee bit of a problem cooking for a mere two people, so today I actually made a concerted effort to keep the volume under control. I staretd out with about a half pound of stew meat and a small pot.
I browned the beef with half an onion, some garlic, and a handful of sliced mushrooms. I then added about a half-cup of red wine, a qt of beef broth, and some tomato powder. I left it to simmer, uncovered..... About an hour later, I had a rich, rich broth, tender meat, and succulent smells wafting through the house! It had cooked down considerably, and the flavors were really concentrated. Yum.
I added one potato, unpeeled and cut, 3 carrots, also unpeeled and cut, and 2 ribs of celery. I needed more broth. There wasn't going to be enough gravy! Another 2 cups of broth into the pot..... My little stew was growing. How, I don't know. I really did try to make "one" meal. I really did!
Shaking my head, I left it to simmer while I made the biscuit topping.....
2 cups of baking mix, 1 egg, 2 tbsp butter, dill, garlic, and milk. Mixed well.
I thickened the stew with a butter-flour roux and poured it into a casserole. A large casserole. A casserole for a family with teenagers. I scooped the biscuit topping on, and into a 425° oven for about 30 minutes.
The biscuit topping was light as a feather (adding the egg really helps!) and everything else just plain old yummy! We both ate hearty helpings - and resisted going back for seconds!
And... we have a hot lunch for tomorrow!