Cream of chicken and wild rice soup

It's snowing and I'm thinking about comfort food, specifically Panera's cream of chicken soup. I like the soup at Panera, but it tastes a little of garlic powder and I wanted to improve it, so I started searching for an easy recipe that would replicate it. Voila! Combining a couple of recipes I found online, plus a little improvisation and this is what happened. It's good, worth saving, and really easy--one pot. I made a big pot of soup, probably about 12 or more servings. 

See what you think.

Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

What you’ll need

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

2 medium sweet onions, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil 

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped

8 cups chicken stock (or water with 2 TBS Penzey’s chicken base)

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 bay leaves

2 cups milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 4.3-ounce boxes of Rice-a-Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice with seasoning packet

How to do it

Place the carrots, celery, onion, and olive oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot.

Allow to simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent.

Add chopped chicken and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add garlic, spinach, chicken stock, and 2 cups of milk to the mixture and blend.

Add pepper, oregano, and bay leaves.

Mix and allow soup to simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Whisk together the other 2 cups of milk with flour until smooth. Whisk into soup.

Place rice and seasoning packets into soup and mix until combined.

Simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Add a little milk or water if too thick.

Everyday Chocolate Cake

Okay, I'll share the recipe, just because you asked and because good things should be shared.


Everyday Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen at http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/everyday-chocolate-cake/ who got it from Magnolia Bakery At Home.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder (I used Scharffen-Berger)
½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt
Confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and lightly flour a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan, or spray it with a butter-flour spray. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat well, then the buttermilk and vanilla. Don’t worry if the batter looks a little uneven. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together right into your wet ingredients. Stir together with a spoon until well-blended but do not overmix. Scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for about 10 to 15 minutes, at which point you can cool it the rest of the way out of the pan. When cool, dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Direct from the source . . . I've made oyster stuffing, haven't tried this recipe yet, but I will. It's supposed to be the best and you can show your gratitude by making a contribution to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Chesapeake Oyster Stuffing

CBF's Director of Fisheries Bill Goldsborough swears by this tried-and-true oyster stuffing recipe inspired by Gourmet magazine. Enjoy! 
Ingredients:

• 2 loaves Italian or French bread (1 lb total), cut into 3/4-inch cubes (12 cups)
• 1/2 lb sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil (if needed)
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried sage, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2/3 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
• 24 oysters, shucked, drained, and chopped (3/4 cup)
• 2 cups turkey giblet stock or low-sodium chicken broth

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spread bread cubes in two shallow baking pans and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until golden, 25 to 30 minutes total. Cool bread in pans on racks, then transfer to a large bowl.
Meanwhile, cook bacon in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain, reserving fat in skillet.
If bacon renders less than 1/4 cup fat, add enough oil to skillet to total 1/4 cup fat. Cook onions, celery, thyme, sage, garlic, salt, and pepper in fat in skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to bowl with bread cubes, then stir in bacon, parsley, butter, and oysters. Drizzle with stock, then season with salt and pepper and toss well.
Transfer stuffing to a buttered 3- to 3 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Bake, covered, in middle of oven 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until browned, about 30 minutes more. Allow two hours all together to prepare and cook.
Enjoy!

Please Support the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Vidalia onion doughnuts

I’m losing my mind. It’s a combination of heat stroke, cabin fever, and carbohydrate craving all rolled into one ugly ball. There is no food in my house. By food, I mean doughnuts. Barbeque potato chips sometimes work as a substitute, but in this heat the only thing I want is a doughnut. At about 4 in the afternoon—the carb crazy witching hour—I started prowling through my pantry. There was nothing there worth eating. Then I began looking in the drawers in the living room where I sometimes hide pieces of chocolate or Strawberry Twizzlers so I won’t find them. If there was anything hidden, I didn’t find it. Well done, Miss Hider.

 

For nearly two weeks the outside temperature has hovered around 100 degrees. I say this with clenched teeth, trying not to curse about the appalling heat index that the meteorologists use just to further annoy me. It would be ridiculous to leave my air-conditioned house and get into my car that is so hot the seats would render lard into liquid fat. For even longer than two weeks, I have had a migraine nearly every day. I don’t usually get migraines. Except I am in a bad phase. Don’t blame me, it’s organic brain disease.

So. In my addled condition, I start thinking there must be some way I could garner all my culinary creativity and make doughnuts with the few ingredients I have on hand. Here are my choices: canned tomatoes, frozen veggie burgers, panko, one egg, some Parmesan cheese rinds, a vanilla protein drink, and a package of exotic lasagna noodles. There also is a jar of hatch chile salsa in my pantry, but that just seems wrong. I've got a lovely basket of organic Vidalia onions that shouldn't go to waste. Is that just too weird? I want a simple cake doughnut with crunchy sugar on top. I'd have to use the old brick-hard dregs of a package of brown sugar for the topping. Stevia won't do. But the dough? Can I put the exotic lasagna noodles in the food processor with the panko? It might look like flour if I grind it enough. My lovely stainless steel Kitchen-Aid stand mixer is supposed to perform miracles. I can add the egg, pray that I have some baking powder or soda, and throw in some of the protein drink to get the dough consistency right. Do you think it will work?

Perfection in the guise of a lemon bar

Can there be a state beyond perfection? Technically not, I suppose. Yet these are as perfect as perfect gets. Yesterday I went on a quest for a lemon bar recipe. At last the weather forecasters were calling for a touch of spring today. I need to bring something sweet to a meeting tonight and nothing says spring like lemon bars. Of course there are many, many versions, but I trust Ina Garten and Smitten Kitchen above all others. When I found that Smitten Kitchen used Ina Garten's recipe (with minimal adaptations) I stopped looking.

 

So here it is--lemon bars via Smitten Kitchen via Ina Garten. I used Smitten's version for the thinner lemon layer. If you want to see her original post, it can be found at http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/01/lemon-bars/. She adapted them from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.

 

Lemon Bars
 

Crust:

1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

 

Lemon layer:

4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (3 to 4 lemons)
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2/3 cup flour

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease parchment paper with butter.

 

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the greased baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill (about 10 to 15 minutes).

 

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

 

For the lemon layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for about 20 minutes. (Check the filling to see when it sets. Once it has set, back for five more minutes.) Place it on a rack and let cool to room temperature or put in refrigerator overnight.

 

When ready to serve, cut into rectangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

 

Makes about 3 dozen.

How not to be a food writer

There is a relatively long list of ingredients. The cooking technique is rather simple. And I have to report that the results are quite delish. There is no risk at all that I will ever get hired by America's Test Kitchen. Here's my recipe for a mélange of oven-roasted vegetables.

 

Ingredients

 

Cauliflower

Baby carrots

Baby cremini mushrooms

Broccoli

Baby zucchini

Extra virgin olive oil

Laconiko Greek chive olive oil

Laconiko Green sweet lime olive oil

Butter-flavored olive oil

Jalapeno lime balsamic vinegar

Maharajah curry powder

Rocky Mountain seasoning

Herbs de Provence

Ground ginger

Lemon pepper

Coarse Kosher salt

 

Most of the vegetables are organic. I'm sure you're impressed. Most of the olive oils as well as the balsamic vinegar are from an artisanal oil and vinegar store called Ah Love Oil and Vinegar. Most of the spices are from Penzey's. The herbs de Provence were carried with love directly from Provence by my cousin. I buy Kosher salt in a large box and keep it on the kitchen counter in a vintage salt box that belonged to my late beloved mother-in-law. I used my iPhone to take the photo at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon and the temperature in my house was approximately 67 degrees. I roasted the vegetables on cookie sheets lined with unbleached parchment paper in an oven using the convection option at 375 degrees.

 

What I failed to do was to keep track of what I put on the vegetables and how much I used. Yes, I used everything I listed. I think I put the ginger on the carrots and maybe I used the butter-flavored oil, or maybe it was one of the others. I'm pretty sure I splashed a bit of balsamic vinegar on the broccoli. The curry powder was on the cauliflower. I have no idea how much but it should have been more than that. Maybe I used the herbs de Provence on the mushrooms. Or was it the zucchini?

 

I am shamed by all the American Test Kitchen books in my collection. The writers and testers go into intense detail on techniques and ingredients. For this I flew by the seat of my pants and could not duplicate this if I had to. I'm living in the moment--it's a flimsy excuse.

Butternut squash stew

Hard to believe, but I have been cooking. Last night I made a chicken chili with poblano and sweet red peppers, hominy, and other things. It was very good. I didn’t write it down. Tonight I made a vegetable stew for the second time and it is positively yummy. If it weren’t for the Parmesan cheese, it would be vegan, but I think the Parmesan is what makes it particularly fabulous. Bonus—it’s really quite easy to make.

 

Source: In a Vegetarian Kitchen, by Jack Bishop

 

Butternut Squash with White Beans Stew with Rosemary and Tomatoes

 

Makes 4 main dish servings

 

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced

½ teaspoon salt

3 medium garlic cloves, minced (divided)

2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or use beans cooked from scratch)

1 small butternut squash (about 1 ½ pounds), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch dice (about 3 1/2 cups)

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 Parmesan cheese rind (I used about ½ cup large chunks of Parmesan)

3 cups water

1 tablespoon freshly minced rosemary

Freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and ½ teaspoon salt and cook until soft and golden, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans, squash, tomatoes, Parmesan rind, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the cover and continue simmering until the stew thickens, about 15 minutes.

 

While the stew is simmering, combine the minced rosemary, the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl.

 

Once the stew has reduced down, stir in the rosemary mixture and cook an additional 5 minutes. Adjust the seasonings with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste.

Chicken pumpkin curry sliders

There was a minor mental work-up to the event. I made sure I gathered all the ingredients, put on my apron, and decided I would test a new recipe. What a joke! It took about 5 minutes to put the thing together and about 5 minutes to cook. I am now eating one of these (super delish) sliders while writing this post. I cooked, worked out the adaptation of a new recipe, and it is a success. Can I milk it a bit and say I slaved over the hot stove, blah, blah, blah? It’s so easy and so good—make it and thank me later. By the way, I have to point out that it’s also a paleo recipe. I think something is wrong with me and I'm entered an alternative universe where the person who seems to be me is cooking paleo. But the fact that my hands smell like curry powder is a blessing.

This is an adaptation of a recipe I found at the gym. The only notation I have for the source is PaleOMG. (The photo is mine.) Thanks for the inspiration, whoever you may be.

Chicken Pumpkin Curry Sliders

1 pound ground organic white meat chicken

¼ cup canned pumpkin puree

¾ cup almond flour

2 tablespoons curry powder (I used Penzey’s Maharaji Curry Powder)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

Mix ground chicken, pumpkin, almond flour, curry, garlic, shallot, salt, and pepper. Mix well and form into balls (about the size of a lacrosse ball).

 

Heat olive oil in large sauté pan over medium-high heat.

 

When oil is heated, drop the chicken mixture balls into the pan. When the bottom of the balls begins to brown, flatten with a spatula, cook one minute, and flip. Cook second side for about 3 minutes.

 

It made 5 decent-sized sliders but I think you could make them either larger or smaller, depending on how you plan to use them. (One thought I had was to make them smaller and serve as an appetizer with some sort of chutney or another sauce.)

Chili provençale aka ratatouillaise

Do I need to be reminded that this blog is called Cooking + Praying? I’ve been much more focused on praying (and life in general) than on cooking. There’s a reason for that and I’ll confess if you promise not to tell anyone. I’m trying to lose weight. Again. I lost it and it found its way home. So I’m just eating protein and vegetables. No carbs, no sugar. Not even fruit . . . sigh . . . and she says that at the height of peach season. I have discovered that croissants and pizza and pasta and jelly doughnuts and beer are all on the NO list. No barbequed potato chips with sour cream. (I think I’m going to cry.) There is no joy in Mudville. Actually after a couple of weeks I feel like I have the jelly doughnut and beer monkeys off my back. But if they arrived at my door, begging me to let them in, I probably would not resist too hard.

So I’ve been hoping that some delicious recipe would come into my life—anything that does not include another hard-boiled egg, another hunk of roasted chicken, or another leaf of spinach. So in pursuit of this recipe today I went to the farmers market and then to the grocery store to get the ingredients. I cooked the recipe exactly as written but for a couple of deviations. I couldn’t find harissa so I used some Indonesian spicy salsa sort of thing I found at Trader Joe’s. Oh, and I doubled it—more about that later.

 

My comments on the recipe:

 

(1) I used fresh tomatoes but I refused to peel them. The produce alone cost me over $30. I think next time I’ll used good canned tomatoes. It’s not worth the effort and the expense to use fresh tomatoes unless you have a garden and an excess of tomatoes. In the early cooking it appears that the peels are beginning to separate from the tomato pulp and they are floating around in the mixture. Do you think I would actually stoop so low as to pick them out with my fingers?

(2) I doubled the recipe because I want to bring a batch to my sister tomorrow. It grew and grew as I added ingredients. There is a boatload of zucchini and eggplant in this recipe. It grew out of my largest Dutch oven so I had to put it in my big soup pot—at least it fit in the oven where it is now resting at 350 degrees for over 2 hours.

 

(3) I didn’t peel the red bell pepper either. I roasted them like the recipe says but I struggled to peel them. I know there’s a technique but I forget what it is and I was too up to my elbows in kitchen mayhem to look it up. The pepper peels are floating in the mixture along with the tomato peels. Now I know how to remove them.

 

(4) My kitchen is a mess and it’s hot so I left it all, hoping that some kind soul will come into my house and clean the kitchen. Just in case you want to attempt this yourself at home, the photo is of my kitchen at this very moment. I’m afraid to go back, even though the beeper is telling me it’s time to stir the pot.

(5) The good news is I tasted it, albeit prematurely before the flavors can really mingle, and it’s delicious.

Kristin Espinasse calls the recipe “ratatouillaise” but in my mind it’s kind of like Chili Provençale. The following is quoted from her site, link below:

The dish has two secret (and untraditional) ingredients — a generous drizzle of honey, which heightens the tomatoes — and a dash of something spicy — I used harissa. Herbs, sautéed onions and ground beef join the vegetables in the covered casserole before it’s placed in the oven for a slow simmer. In the photo above, you can see the “raw” state — the vegetables still bright and crunchy. After a couple of hours, they turned soft and creamy, rich with a deep, meaty savor. Paired with couscous, this made a superb Sunday dinner — with leftovers for another weeknight meal (over pasta or soft polenta). The best part? It leaves your house smelling like a summer kitchen in Provence.

Ratatouillaise

The word “ratatouillaise” is a hybrid of ratatouille and bolognaise (spelled the French way).

Olive oil
2 red bell peppers
3 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef
2 lbs tomatoes, peeled and diced
2 large zucchini, peeled in stripes, and cut into 1.5-inch chunks
3 small eggplant, peeled in stripes, and cut into 1.5-inch cubes
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon harissa
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper

Cut the red peppers in half and remove the seeds. Line a baking sheet with parchment pepper and arrange the peppers on it. Roast the peppers at 400ºF until their skins have blistered, about 20 minutes. Peel the peppers and slice them into thin strips.

In a large Dutch oven, heat a tablespoon of oil and sauté the onions and garlic until they’ve softened and start to turn golden. Add the ground beef, breaking up the chunks with a wooden spoon. When the meat has cooked, stir in the tomatoes. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a (separate) sauté pan, warm a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high flame, and then add the zucchini and a dash of pepper. Don’t overcrowd the pan — cook in batches, if necessary. Sauté the zucchini until gently softened and starting to turn brown, about five minutes. Add the zucchini to the meat mixture. Repeat with the rest of the zucchini, then the eggplant cubes. Add them to the meat mixture. Stir the red pepper strips into the meat mixture, along with the honey, harissa, bay leaf, thyme, oregano, and 1.5 cups of water.

Bring the mixture to a boil on the stove, then cover the pot and place it in the oven. Cook the ratatouillaise in the oven, stirring every half an hour, until the vegetables have collapsed and everything is “bien confit” (well reduced) — about 2.5 hours. If too much liquid remains, uncover the pot for the last 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

I found the recipe on Kristin Espinasse’s site, A Day in a French Life at: http://french-word-a-day.typepad.com/motdujour/2015/08/carte-de-sejour.html.

 
Complete instructions with photos can be found on Ann Mah’s blog here: http://annmah.net/2015/08/10/ratatouillaise/.

Sassy oatmeal cookies

By request, I'm posting this recipe. I put the recipe in my book (unpublished) but didn't realize I hadn't posted them on the blog. Quite interesting . . .

Love, love, love these cookies. No one can figure out what’s in them, where the kick is coming from. These are not old-lady oatmeal cookies!

 
Sassy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
a pinch ground cloves
½ teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups old-fashioned or quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a bowl sift together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl beat butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add fresh ginger, egg, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and slowly beat until just combined well. Stir in rolled oats and raisins.

Drop tablespoon-size pieces of dough 2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 11 minutes, until light brown. Cool cookies on baking sheet for one minute and transfer to racks to cool completely. Makes 4 dozen.

 

Beef Bourguignon Soup

Proving my point . . . yes, I am cooking. A house guest is arriving chez moi tomorrow and I need to have food around. For as long as I can remember I've wanted to have incredible food readily available in my kitchen. I want to open the refrigerator, look in the pantry and say, "Oh my, we probably need to eat something. Let me see what I can find. Oh, voila!" It should look effortless and only I will know how I worked to achieve this seemingly effortless and totally delicious food. It's like creating the equivalent of ramen noodles that Julia Child would make.

 

So I tried yet another soup recipe, this one from a blog I follow called Café Sucré Farine. The blog is in French but I quite adeptly translated it for you. (Lies! Such an intriguing name but the blog is in English and it's really a great blog, full of reliable and delicious recipes.) You can find a link to the blog on the right in my list of favorites.

 

This recipe was a bit tedious--all that chopping of beef and vegetables into 1/2 inch dice. I'm lazy but I did it. And it was worth it. I cooked the soup exactly according to the recipe and it's fabulous. Not as heavy as traditional Beef Bourguignon but intensely flavored. The beef is so tender, so loveable that it could appear effortless. Only you and I will know.

 

All credit to the Café Sucré Farine for the recipe and the photo.

Beef Bourguignon Soup

 

3-4 thick cut slices applewood smoked bacon, approximately 4 ounces

2 tablespoons flour

1 ½ teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds stew beef meat, cut in ½-inch dice

1 medium onion, chopped in ¼-inch dice

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

6 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups good quality dry red wine, a little more than ½ of a 750ml bottle

6 cups beef stock

4 medium fresh thyme sprigs

1 large bay leaf

4 tablespoons pesto, prepared or homemade

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 stalks celery, diced into ½-inch pieces

8 medium carrots, peeled and diced into ½-inch pieces

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into ½-inch pieces

2 tablespoons butter

8 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, sliced

½ teaspoon kosher salt

 

Cook bacon over medium low heat until golden brown and crisp, but not hard. Do not overcook. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside. Remove half of the bacon drippings and set aside.

 

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add beef and toss with your hands to coat.

 

In a large Dutch oven or heavy duty pot, heat bacon fat over medium high heat until hot, but not smoking. Add ½ of the beef and spread out to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook, undisturbed until the beef is golden brown on the underside, about 5-7 minutes. With a large metal spatula, flip beef to uncooked side and cook until second side is golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a clean plate. Add the rest of the bacon fat to pot. Heat until hot, add remaining beef and repeat cooking process as directed above.

 

Once second batch of beef is browned, return first half of beef to pan. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add tomato paste and 1 of cup wine. Bring to a boil then lower heat to maintain a low simmer. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally to loosen brown bits from bottom of pan. (I like to use a thin bladed metal spatula for this.) Simmer until most of the wine is absorbed, about 20 minutes then add the remainder of the wine and simmer until almost completely absorbed .

Add the beef stock, thyme, bay leaf, pesto and brown sugar and return to a boil. Reduce to a low constant simmer, cover and cook for 1 hour or until beef is tender. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

 

Add celery, carrots and potatoes, cover loosely and cook till tender, about 20-25 more minutes.

 

While vegetables are cooking, melt butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. When butter is bubbly, add mushrooms and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Add mushrooms and bacon to soup and stir. If soup is too thick add a bit more stock or water. Taste and add salt and freshly ground black pepper, if needed.

Pesto Chicken Soup

The way I see it I have two choices: (1) change the title of this blog to Grousing + Praying, or (2) start posting more about cooking. I've heard the people and I'm not going to ignore the groundswell of public opinion; no longer can I turn a deaf ear to the outcry of the masses. Okay, I'm grossly exaggerating. The masses are approximately two readers, give or take one or two. But trust me, I really appreciate both of them. One of them is a student in the far outreaches of Russia who is trying to learn basic English. That alone is a frightening thought. The other is a person in solitary confinement in a prison for the criminally insane. No offense, criminally insane person--I totally believe that you were railroaded by the system and that your mother really was put into the wood chipper by Martians. It has been known to happen.

So in an effort to salvage the title of this blog, I am actually posting a recipe. Tada. I found the recipe on Pinterest and tested it, exactly as written. It really is simple and it really is delicious and it really works well with just five ingredients. Perfect for a cold winter Sunday evening.

All the credit goes to Gimme Some Oven for both the recipe and the photo. Thanks, Gimme, it's a keeper.

5-Ingredient Pesto Chicken Soup

4 cups good-quality chicken stock (I used Penzey's chicken soup base)

3 handfuls (about 3 cups) fresh spinach

2 cups cooked chicken (I poached chicken breasts in the stock, cooled slightly, chopped, then added to pot with the other ingredients) 

2 (14 ounce) cans Great Northern or cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup pesto (I used the refrigerated pesto from Trader Joe's)

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

 

Stir together chicken stock, spinach, chicken, and beans in a medium saucepan. Cook over high heat until the soup reaches a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium, stir in the pesto, and let the soup continue to simmer for 2 minutes.

Serve warm, topped with Parmesan cheese.

Raisin oatmeal pecan cookies

I felt obligated to undo the nausea I induced with my last post. I am repeating a recipe that I posted before. It's Ina Garten's recipe, my photo. These cookies are incredible.







Raisin Oatmeal Pecan Cookies

1 1/2 cups pecans

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1 1/2 cups raisins

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins, and pecans and mix just until combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop 2-inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

Jello with sausage

Since it's almost Thanksgiving and you normally eat way too much I want to give you some help in curbing your appetite. Maybe you just need to look at this lovely dish called Windsor Sausage in Jelly. If merely looking at the photo doesn't kill your appetite from now until sometime after 2014 rolls around, then perhaps I need to list for you a few of the ingredients: gelatin, luncheon sausage, hard-boiled eggs, and Worcestershire sauce. It's not complete without the radish and parsley garnish. Yes, I have the full recipe, and if you really want it, you can beg me. Bon appetit!

Arnold's cranberry sausage stuffing

This recipe is legendary. I've been searching through my cookbooks because I could swear that somewhere in those shelves of books I saved the actual recipe cut from the plastic bag that contained the stuffing cubes and tucked it between some pages. Somewhere. It was handed down through generations of a family (for illustrative purposes only, let's say it was the Mueller-Scharffenberger family). I've been making this recipe for many years and everyone who has it says it's the best stuffing they've ever had. Turkey is overrated; the stuffing is not.

Arnold’s Cranberry Sausage Stuffing

1 (15 oz.) Arnold's stuffing with seasoning
2 eggs, slightly beaten
4 medium onions, finely chopped (1 ½ cups)
6 stalks celery, finely chopped (2 ½ cups)
1 lb. pork sausage, pan fried and drained
1 can (8 oz.) jellied cranberry sauce (beaten until thin)
1 to 2 cups apple juice

Mix the stuffing mix, cooked sausage, onions, celery, eggs, and beaten cranberry sauce. Add apple juice a little at a time, until entire mixture is dampened but not mushy. For less moist stuffing use less apple juice. Stuff 18 - 20 pound turkey. Roast turkey as directed for weight. Extra stuffing can be baked separately in covered casserole for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

 

Chicken sweet potato chili with kale

The search for the perfect chili is never-ending. I think it should stay that way, ever searching for perfection. I think I got this one from a friend who entered it in a chili cook-off. She graciously shared the recipe with me. The unusual addition of sweet potato and kale is quite interesting and delicious.

 

I've got a note on this that says it has been revised and I revised some more, but the original source was Cooking Matters. Give credit where credit is due. My photo.

 

Chicken Sweet Potato Chili with Kale

Olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken breast
1 large onion, chopped
1 large unpeeled sweet potato, washed and cut into chunks
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut into medium dice
2 stalks of celery, sliced into bite sized pieces
6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
2 cups chicken stock
2 15 ounce cans of kidney or black beans, drained and rinsed
2 28 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 bunch of kale, washed, dried, stripped from the central rib, and cut into ribbons
Handful of okra pods (0ptional)
4 tablespoons chili powder (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons ground cumin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Optional garnish: Lime wedges, jalapeño slices, sour cream, or fresh cilantro

 

Place a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat and pour in about a tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot, brown the chicken, working in batches until it is nicely caramelized. Remove the chicken from the pot and place in a bowl.

Add more olive oil if necessary, then add the onions, carrots, and sweet potato to the pan until the vegetables have started to soften, and the onion is golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic, celery, and red pepper and cook another 4-5 minutes. Add the chili powder and cumin and stir.

Add the beans, tomatoes, browned chicken, and chicken stock to the pot and bring it to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook gently for about 15 minutes. Add the sliced kale and okra and cook another 10 minutes or so, or until the carrots and sweet potato are just tender.

Check for seasoning, adding more chili powder and salt and pepper as needed.

Add garnish if desired.

Serves 10-12

 

Watermelon cucumber salad

Last Saturday I spent a long, lazy afternoon having lunch with my dear friend Jane who was visiting from Kentucky. We had a year’s worth of life to catch up on. We were at an outside table at Clyde’s in Ashburn, sitting under the arbor, being served by a waiter who told us we could have the table for as long as we wanted. Can there be anything better?

Other than having unrestricted time with Jane, the highlight of the meal was a watermelon cucumber salad that I’ve attempted to duplicate. I made some changes, but this is true to its inspiration—fresh, uncomplicated, perfect.

Watermelon Cucumber Salad

4 cups seedless watermelon, cut into cubes

1 mango, peeled and cut into cubes

2 Persian cucumbers, sliced rather thick

Salt and pepper to taste (I actually used Penzey’s lemon pepper)

Raspberry ginger balsamic vinegar* (approximately 2 tablespoons)

Springs of fresh mint

Toss the cut watermelon, mango, and cucumber in a bowl. Add salt and pepper and splash with vinegar. Toss gently and garnish with mint.

*I used Ah Love Oil and Vinegar balsamic vinegar—it’s my new addiction. Other flavors of their balsamic vinegar might work equally as well.

Tangled Thai salad

I’ve made various versions of this a couple of times in the past year, inspired by a salad my daughter makes and everyone loves. Probably I should be a little more exact about what I do and quantities, but it’s a work in progress and it’s subject to many variations. So this is approximately what I did yesterday to take to a pot luck dinner. Several people have asked me for the recipe and this is the concept. Next time I'll remember to take a photo.

Tangled Thai salad

1 package Pad Thai noodles, broken in half

Spicy peanut vinaigrette (bottled in refrigerated section at Trader Joe’s)
Steamed pea pods
Julienned yellow bell pepper
Diced mango
1 package broccoli slaw mix
Handful of shredded carrot
1 package pea shoots
About 3-4 chopped green onions
Dash of hot curry powder (to taste)
Healthy dose of chopped fresh cilantro
Handful of salted peanuts
One lime, cut into wedges

Cook noodles according to directions, rinse with cold water, and let cool.

Add peanut vinaigrette and mix thoroughly.

Add all other ingredients except peanuts and lime. Toss gently and let it sit in refrigerator for about an hour.

Just before serving sprinkle top with peanuts and arrange lime wedges on top.

Makes a big bowl of salad—enough for about 10-12 servings as a side dish. Also works great as a main dish salad if you add precooked shrimp or chicken.