Chicken Noodle Soup

So, my husband wasn't feeling well and wasn't hungry to anything, so as I was grocery shopping for the week, I was inspired to make good old-fashioned chicken noodle soup.  It turned out great!  I looked up some recipes and was inspired mostly from Tyler Florence's Grandma's Chicken Noodle Soup recipe from foodnetwork.com.  I, of course had to change it up a little bit, but this is basically what I did.

Stock Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (from Nick's of Clinton, of course)
2 stalks celery (chopped roughly)
4 carrots (chopped roughly)
2 onion quartered
4 cloves garlic whole
3 bay leaves whole
crushed black pepper to taste
salt to taste
pinch of:
rosemary
parsley
garlic salt

Soup Ingredients:
2 stalks celery finely diced
4 carrots finely diced
2 onions finely diced
2 garlic cloves minced

Directions:
1) Rinse the whole chicken and place in a large pot.  Add the veggies and add water just until the ingredients are covered.
2)  Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
3)  Strain the broth and save the veggies. 
4)  Pull the chicken.  It should fall right off the bone.  Reserve the skin and bones for future use. 
5)  Put the extra veggies in a food processor for future use.
6)  Saute the finely diced veggies in butter slightly but not to the point they become mushy.
7)  Add the stock and bring to a boil.
8)  Add a hand-full of egg noodles and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
9)  Add the pulled chicken and serve.

I hope this recipe helps your loved ones as much as it help mine.  :-)

New Challenge - The Great Courses

I just recently was listening to podcasts which advertised for one-month free subscriptions for "The Great Courses" for photography and cooking.  I decided to give the cooking course a try and I immediately fell in love.  I have been watching episodes of "The Everyday Gourmet" and cannot get enough.  I have the month of March to work through all of the recipes.  So far, I have had quite a bit of success with poaching.  Last night, I poached cod in beef stock and some other seasonings and it turned out GREAT!!  I shallow poached a small fillet of cod and reduced down the poaching liquid.  I added a little bit of flour to make more of a gravy than a wine sauce (because I didn't have any appropriate wine).  I will definitely continue making the dishes from the course.   I want to try fish and chips next.  A lot of what is taught so far I already know, but I don't mind listening to it while I chop veggies and prepare meals.  I highly recommend you check it out if you get the chance.  I'll share more as I explore the different dishes and I'll add more detail to how in fact I prepared the dishes in the future.

Buckeyes

I hesitate to share this recipe, as it is one of my specialties.  Being from Ohio, I grew up making buckeye candies with my mother.  The buckeye is the official tree of the great state and the candies are loved by all who enjoy the awesome combination of peanut butter and chocolate.  I mean, really, unless you are allergic, who doesn't love this combination!!  Every Christmas, I make family and friends tins filled with a variety of cookies and you can bet buckeyes are always included.  Recently, a friend requested me to make these, so I thought I would finally share the recipe.  These are wonderful, though time consuming.  When I first started using this particular recipe, it said that 10 minutes was all it took.  That is an utter lie.  This is a great recipe to make with friends when watching football or when you have time to kill.  Make sure you have plenty of space in your freezer, because these will dominate for a while.  They are great to make ahead of time as they freeze very well.  In fact, I normally store them in the freezer until they are ready to be consumed.

Here is my favorite recipe for buckeyes.  Enjoy :-)

Ingredients:
2 cups peanut butter ( I prefer Jiff )
1/2 stick butter softened
16 oz. powdered sugar
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate ( dark chocolate also works, but I would stay away from milk chocolate)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening ( I like to use Crisco )

Instructions:
1)  Line several baking sheets with wax or parchment paper.
2)  Beat peanut butter and butter until creamy.  Beat in powdered sugar until mixture holds together and is moistened.  Shape into 1-inch balls, place onto baking sheets, and freeze for 1 hour.
3)  Melt morsels and shortening in medium-sized microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute.  Stir.  If the morsels are not melted, microwave at 10 second intervals until the chocolate is melted.  Be careful not to burn the chocolate.
4)  Dip the peanut butter balls into the chocolate, leaving a small amount of the ball uncovered.  I like to use a toothpick so that I do not get chocolate all over my fingers.  Return the balls to the baking sheet and refrigerate or freeze until the chocolate is set.  I like to keep them in a plastic container in the freezer.

Gumbo

I have always dreamed of visiting New Orleans.  I love jazz, spicy food, and interesting culture.  I was inspired this week to cook gumbo for the very first time since my meat market (Nick’s of Clinton) had sausage and shrimp on sale.  Also, the farmer’s market had some great looking okra.  I decided to try my hand at a healthier version of gumbo.  I browned the andouille sausage, sautéed the onion, garlic, and okra, added tomato sauce (yes, out of the can L).  I let the mixture boil and then I added the shrimp until it turned red.  I seasoned with cracked black pepper, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper.  I decided not to use any rice because we are trying to cut down on our carbohydrates.  The stew that remained was amazing.  I think this is the best dish I have made in a while.  I cannot get enough and neither can my husband.  I highly recommend trying this dish with your own spin.

Roasted Veggies

While this recipe isn't exactly quick, it does not take much prep time and is very easily tweaked.  A lot of people do not know that roasting veggies brings out a richness in flavor compared to steaming or braising.  I have used many different veggies for this and have never been disappointed.  The size of the veggie greatly impacts the roasting time.  If you want a quick cooking time, more prep is involved since you should chop the veggies smaller.  A lot of times I will use this method for the veggies I make my soups out of.

Ingredients
Oil (doesn't matter what kind)
Veggies
Salt
Pepper

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  The darker the sheet, the faster it cooks.
2.  Chop veggies to desired size.
3.  Spray foil with cooking spray and drizzle with a small amount of oil.
4.  Spread veggies evenly on baking sheet.
5.  Season with salt and pepper.  (I usually spice it up more with chili powder, garlic, cumin, and tumeric, depending on the mood and the veggie.
6.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Stir.  Bake for additional 15-20 minutes.

Suggested veggies: broccoli, zucchini, onion, garlic cloves, potatoes, cauliflower, squash, eggplant, cabbage (chopped into 1 inch steaks), Brussels sprouts, and *radishes.

*Yes, that's right, I said radishes.  When you roast radishes, they lose their tang and the sweetness of the vegetable is released.  It's quite remarkable.

Stir Fry

This is not the best picture of this dish, but, I promise, it is worth writing about.  I was at the grocery store on Sunday, and happened to look over at some tofu noodles in the produce department.  I could take or leave tofu, but I had never tried my hand at cooking it.  The nutrition information grabbed my attention as well as the price.  I saw that there were 10 calories in a serving (I believe there are technically 2 servings to a bag) and they were buy two for $3.  I decided to give it a try.  I also grabbed some bok choy, broccoli, and mushrooms, which all lend themselves to stir-fry.  I also knew that I had shrimp to add, so I was excited to try it out.  When I got home, I looked up different recipes for sauces and found one which included soy sauce, sherry, and Asian spices.
I know that tofu takes on the flavor of whatever it is cooked with, so I marinated the noodles in my sauce, which also included garlic chili paste for some heat.  I sauteed the veggies, set them aside, sauteed the shrimp, and then added the noodles, sauce, and veggies to the mix.  It turned out great! My husband is not a big fan of Asian dishes and I thought he might turn his nose up to this one, but he loved it.  I have been making different renditions of the dish all week long, including a soup.  I hope this inspires someone else to get out of their comfort zone and try something new. An added bonus was that it really didn't take that long to prepare.  You can chop up the veggies ahead of time and then the actual cooking time is within 10 minutes.

Granola

Do you love granola, but hate the cost and all the preservatives in the store-bought varieties?  Why not make it yourself?  A vegan friend of mine shared a very easy recipe with me, and I have played around with the recipe quite a bit.  At first, I mixed 2 cups of rolled oats (not instant), ½ cup honey or agave nectar, cinnamon, and clove in a bowl.  Then, I lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or wax paper.  I set the oven to 450 degrees and spread the oat mixture out on the cookie sheet.  I baked the granola for 7 minutes, then stirred it around, then baked for another 7 minutes.  Make sure you watch the granola, because it can burn easily.  The result was a bit more of a crumble than clusters or bars, but it was quite tasty along with vanilla yogurt.

My husband wanted granola which was a bit more like a bar, so I used peanut butter and jelly.  I used 2 cups of oats again, one cup of peanut butter, and about ¼ cup of strawberry kiwi rhubarb jelly that I picked up from the farmer’s market.  I used a smaller cookie sheet, sprayed my hands with cooking spray, and used my hands to spread the mixture out on the cookie sheet.  I baked it at 400 degrees for 7 minutes, then, I put a second layer of aluminum foil over the granola, quickly flipped the cookie sheet over, and placed the granola back on the cookie sheet.  I figured that was a good way to flip it over without breaking the mixture into pieces.  I baked it for 7 more minutes and set it on a cooling rack.  It turned out great!  The picture shown is this concoction. 

I have also used nuts and dried fruits with other batches.  A tip with fruit is to add it during the second 7 minutes.  Otherwise, it can get too dried out.