November 7, 2010 - Perfect Soup Weather

Yesterday while driving around running errands, I was listening to one of NPR's food programs.  They were talking about the first cold snap being the best time to make soup, and a suggestion was made that when making your soup, you should brown your vegetables first, to extract the most flavor from them.  I took that advice.

WHTBITF Vegetable Soup
Ingredients on hand:
1 fresh onion and about 1/4 cup dried onions
1 cup frozen chopped broccoli
3/4 cup frozen green beans (that's all I had left)
1 cup green onions
1/4 cup minced garlic
4 whole carrots, chopped
about 2 cups frozen cabbage stock
2 cups stewed cabbage
12-oz pack of white (navy) beans
7 small red potatoes peeled
1.5 cups cooked brown rice
1 pound smoked turkey sausage
2 frozen chicken breast fillets
Salt, dried parsley cumin and sage

First, I put the frozen stock and cabbage in the pot to get it boiling, then threw in the white beans.  While that was going on, I made sure all the veggies were chopped and put them in a large pan to brown in olive oil.  Once they were all nicely browned, they went into the pot.  I added the potatoes and brown rice after that, and had to add about a quart of water because it was getting very thick at that point.  I sliced up the sausage and threw it in.  I thawed and then seasoned and browned the chicken breasts in the large pan.  When they were cooked, I chopped them up and put them in the pot.  Once everything was in the pot, I just had to stir every now and then and wait for the beans to be thoroughly cooked.  While it was all at a rolling boil, I added salt (I didn't measure, just took the salt canister and waved it 3 or 4 times), cumin (again, about 4 or 5 shakes right into the pot), sage (the equivalent of maybe 3 pinches), and a handful of dried parsley flakes.  The big pot was full up to the rim.

The smell was heavenly once it was all boiling, and once the beans were tender, it was ready to eat.  It was WAY better than I expected it to be, so flavorful!  Come on over and have a bowl.  There's too much for me to finish by myself.

September 10, 2010 Oh, RUM BALLS!!

My new favorite expletive.  It's fun to say now, especially since a new series of men's soap commercials made me laugh out loud.

I looked all over my cookbooks and the internet to find a rum ball recipe, ANY rum ball recipe.  My cookbooks failed me, but I was lucky enough to find several different recipes online, even some that were gluten free.  Unfortunately, every one of them was different, and I couldn't decide which one to use, so I used all of them.  Some of them called for corn syrup, something I didn't have in the fridge (or cupboard), so I went with the ones that didn't.  Then I whittled the recipes down to how much actual work I wanted to do, which was very little.  Here is what I finally came up with, and it was delicious:

I used Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake Mix, and prepared it the way the box said to.  I added about 1/2 cup of gluten-free, dairy free chocolate chips made by Enjoy Life (an allergy-friendly company) after it had baked a little bit so they sort of melted into the cake as it baked.  (I REALLY enjoyed taste testing this after it was cooked.)

After the cake was done and cooled a little bit, it was time for the rum.  One recipe called for 1/4 cup of rum.  That just didn't feel right to me, so I put more.  Don't ask me how much, because it was Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum and it tasted pretty good, so I stopped measuring.  You just have to make sure that you don't over-wet the cake.  I could have used a mixer to beat this together, but I did it by hand with a wire masher, which worked just as well, made less noise and was easier to clean up. 

Once it was all nice and squishy, I scooped it out into balls, rolled the balls in minced walnuts (my first batch didn't have walnuts) and then powdered sugar, and placed them on wax paper on a plate.  This went into the fridge for a while (I'm sure half an hour would be sufficient).  Et voila!  Rum Balls!  Quite satisfactory!

August 26, 2010 Ooooooo, Frankenstein!

There's not much lead up to today's post.  I was hungry.  It was lunchtime.  There was salad.  There was chicken.  I didn't feel like ranch dressing.  Time to perform a quick experiment.  I loved it. 

Today's find:  Quarter-full bottle of Dijon mustard. 

I had a bottle of Dijon mustard in the fridge had about a quarter left.  I poured in enough balsamic vinegar to fill it halfway (so one part to one part each), and then I shook it up vigorously.  This is extremely tangy and wonderful!

Happy lunching.

July 30, 2010 You Can't Be Serious!

People who know me well have heard me ramble on about how many dishes I've broken lately. I joke about it. I say I'm just making room for all my Annedivorcery registry gifts I have coming, but the truth is...I'm clumsy. Other theories include a poltergeist in my house who revels in causing things to fall off counters, tables and even walls, for heaven's sake. It's become rather maddening. If my cabinets were becoming crowded, they won't be that way for long.

I have broken supposedly shatterproof Corningware into millions of tiny shards, glass stemware, tumblers, plates, bowls...even a spoon.  I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it's true.  I actually broke...a...spoon.  In my defense, it was an old spoon, and I was smoothing rice crispy candy down into a pan, but still.

Lucky for me, my mother recently was "forced" to replace all her pots and pans, which meant I got to inherit a lovely set of stainless steel cookware, perfect for replacing all the "Visions" I've destroyed over the years, and especially recently.  I think every cook should rotate his/her cookware every several years.  I just haven't done it in a while.  Now seems as good a time as any.

Today's Find:  Half bag of Marshmallows

Rice Krispies treats (You can get the "recipe" off of any box of Rice Krispies or even marshmallow bags, but it's pretty easy)
10 oz. Marshmallows
3 Tbs Butter or Margarine
6 cups Rice Krispies

Melt butter with marshmallows in the microwave in a large glass bowl (never melt butter in a plastic bowl or you'll end up with fried plastic) about 2 minutes, stir, then nuke 1 more minute.  Stir it up until it becomes fluffy white and creamy.  Add Rice Krispies, stir until all mixed together and then mash down into a cake pan with an oiled spatula.  Once cooled, slice into squares and enjoy.
(Use a plastic knife especially if you used a nonstick pan, because a metal knife would scratch it)

Update

A trip to the grocery store confirms that Rouses did, indeed, stock my dairy-free frozen treats in the ice cream section.  Huzzah to Rouses, and thank you.

July 25, 2010 Long Time No See

It almost looks as though I took the whole month of July off.  Well, from my blog, at least, I guess that's nearly true.  I've been doing some traveling, working and planning for fall, so I haven't spent much time in the kitchen other than making some of the foods I've already posted and some that aren't really all that interesting (baked chicken, steamed broccoli, etc.).

During my vacation travels in California, my mother did most of the cooking.  Since my mom is an AMAZING cook, I would have been a fool to spend any time in the kitchen myself, except to eat.  You just don't say no to that kind of pampering.

I discovered a few more ready-made items to suit my dietary needs, too, but I won't bore you with the details (unless you ask), since they don't really involve cooking. 

Last night, while I was watching "Julie and Julia" for the first time, I got hungry (who wouldn't?) and skipped to the kitchen to see what I could find to munch on.  I've been on vacation, and I like to leave as little as possible in the fridge when I'm away, so there really wasn't that much left in there that was already prepared.  I did have eggs, though, so I decided to make some deviled eggs.

Today's Find:  Eggs

Simple Deviled Eggs
hard-boiled eggs
mayonnaise
minced garlic
paprika
salt, to taste

Once your eggs are hard boiled (at least 2 minutes at a rolling boil) and cooled, peel them, rinse and dry them with a paper towel.  Slice each egg in half and pop the yolks into a medium-size bowl.  For every 2 eggs, add one tablespoon of mayonnaise and 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic.  If you've boiled 4 eggs, that's 2 tablespoons of mayo and 1 teaspoon of garlic.  If you don't have minced garlic, use garlic powder.  Mix together with a fork.  I'm never willing to mess up my electric beater just for this little bit, but if you feel ambitious or make a large batch, go right ahead.  Beaters make the mixture much fluffier. Add salt to taste, but beware that the mayo will already add salt to the mix.  Scoop the mixture into the egg white halves until it's all gone and sprinkle the tops with paprika.  That's it.

Sometimes I get creative and add other ingredients to the yolk mix, such as taco seasoning or oregano to give it a little ethnic pop, or even tiny tomato slivers for decoration.  Use your imagination.

Try it.  You don't have to wait for a party to have party food, and the next time you go to one, you'll have something delicious to offer.

Donations are welcome, because while I'm writing this, I'm not working.

July 8, 2010: Turkey Burgers

Last night I had a couple of girlfriends over for drinks, food and relaxing conversation.  We had a great time and I prepared a very simple meal: Turkey burgers and salad.  As simple as it may seem to me, not everyone knows how to make a really tasty burger, so I'll share with you what disappeared from my table, even though there was plenty of other stuff to eat (such as hot dogs with fancy buns). 

Today's Find:  Ground Turkey meat (sometimes found frozen in tubes in the grocery store)

Turkey Burgers
1 pound ground turkey meat
1 chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt (I estimated this; probably around a teaspoon or two)
Mrs. Dash Table blend (also estimated)
Olive oil (varies)

Mix it all together in a large bowl.  Some people like to use their hands to get it all mixed up.  I prefer to use a spoon.  You can form your patties by hand or, as I do, scoop out 1/3 cup measuring cups of it and squish it down after it's in the pan.  Put enough olive oil in the pan to help keep the burgers from sticking.  Unfortunately, when it comes to turkey meat of any kind, there's no way to prevent all sticking.  It's going to stick to your pan.  Your job is to try to minimize the sticking by keep oil in the bottom of the pan and scraping up your burgers occasionally.  Flip burgers consistently until when you push down on them with your spatula the juice coming out is just clear, bubbly juice.  It should be very hot in the middle.  Sometimes I cut one in half just to make sure there's no pink in there.  I don't think a rare turkey burger would be a good idea.  I was able to get about eight burgers out of this.

I served my turkey burgers with a salad of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli and strawberry slices, topped off with my own balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  It was delicious and healthy, and everyone loved it.