Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

I got this recipe from Terry Meihaus. Maybe it is a secret recipe, but her restaurant is doing so well, she probably will not care that I am putting it on the internet :)

Ingredients
6 c. chicken broth
1" piece fresh ginger
2-3 stalks lemongrass
small red hot pepper, seeds and veins removed, finely chopped (divided)
2-4 cloves coarsely chopped garlic
2 14-oz cans coconut milk (Trader Joe's has the best kind)
5 raw chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 Tbsp. sugar
salt to taste
chopped chives & cilantro

Method
1. Boil broth, ginger, lemongrass, some of the hot pepper and garlic for 20 minutes. Strain out solids.

2. Stir in coconut milk. Bring to a boil again; add raw chicken and remaining hot pepper. Boil for 5-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Add sugar and salt; adjust seasonings to taste. Sprinkle chives and cilantro on top just before serving.

Ricotta Recipe

I suppose I'm a cheesemonger now. OK I just wanted to say that word. But really, I have been making cheese in my kitchen. Does that sound amazing to you, or gross, or somewhere in between?

I love it. I've been using this recipe and it works great! I'm going to use the ricotta I made in a casserole for Sunday's potluck lunch. I'm not going to tell anyone until after they eat it. Do you think that's mean? I think I'm going to put it in Baked Ziti with Sausage. Hopefully no one will die.

When you make the ricotta, after the curds separate out you are left with all this whey. I know what you are going to say Dad. "No Whey!" ha ha, very funny. But seriously, what are you supposed to do - just throw all this lovely byproduct of your cheesemongering down the sink? So I tried an experiment of substituting the whey in place of water that I usually use when making Grandma Dingler's bread. It's really good! I was hoping it would taste more like sourdough, but it doesn't. It just has more of a depth to the flavor, if that makes any sense. Notes of oak and blackberry and all that, blah blah.

I just revamped...

this recipe and it is oh-so-tasty.

Highly recommended if you're in the mood for something Greek-flavored, cheesy, or just downright comforting.

Apple Muffins and other fine flavors too

I've been shamelessly posting recipes from Moosewood on this blog for a long time, so why stop now? They have THE most amazing muffin recipe. They're super easy, and scrumptious.

Apple Muffins - makes 12
from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home
(my favorite cookbook ever, if you hadn't noticed)
Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups grated Granny Smith or other tart apples
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl mix together eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and apple. In a separate bowl sift together dry ingredients. Stir dry into wet until just combined.

3. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Variations
* Banana - sub 1 1/2 c. mashed ripe banana for the apple; omit cinnamon. Optional - add in 1 c. chopped nuts and/or 1/2 c. chocolate chips
* Blueberry - sub 1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries for the apple; omit cinnamon
* Zucchini - sub 2 c. grated zucchini for the apple; increase cinnamon to 1 tsp. and add 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom. Optional - add in 1/2 c. raisins and/or 3/4 c. chopped nuts

(The only one of the variations I've tried is the zucchini and it is fabulous too)

Marzipan Bars

Nicole thinks this recipe is from the depression or something because obviously there is no real "marzipan" in here.. the only remotely almond part is in the frosting.

Next time I make these I might put a little almond in the red & green part too, because that's the part that has the texture of marzipan, what with the rice flour and all... although the original way is pretty good too.

1 c. + 2 Tbsp. butter (2 sticks and some change)
1 c. flour
1/4 + 2/3 c. sugar
raspberry jam
2 eggs
2/3 c. rice flour
1/2 tsp. salt
red & green food coloring
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 T. warm milk

1. Cream together 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, flour and 1/4 c. sugar. Press into bottom of ungreased 8x8 pan, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool, spread with a layer of raspberry jam.

2. Beat together 1/2 c. butter, 2/3 c. sugar, and eggs until fluffy. Add in rice flour and salt. Beat well and separate into 2 bowls. Color one red and the other green. Drop small spoonfuls of each color alternately on shortbread base (like a checkerboard pattern?) Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Cool completely.

3. Frosting: 2 T. butter, almond flavoring, powdered sugar and milk. Beat together and spread over the top of cooled bars.

Seeds in Your Teeth Dressing

1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1 T. soy sauce

Shake these together in a screw-top jar until mixed. Then add:

2 T. sesame seeds
1 T. poppy seeds
2 T. minced red onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 c. vegetable oil

Shake all ingredients together. This is really good on a salad of spinach, oranges and feta.

Chicken Enchiladas

OK, I can't find this brilliant recipe I saw in Taste of Home mag on Taste of Home's website, because they have a million chicken enchilada recipes... of course, right? So even though I haven't tried it yet, here it is. It stuck out to me because it has few ingredients, and it doesn't have anything gross in it like canned soup or "enchilada sauce" from a can. Why do enchilada recipes have those nasty ingredients? And then also the process always seems time-consuming, whereas this one sounds quick & easy.

I am planning to use corn tortillas for this recipe so I hope they won't get too weird and crunchy and torn, like corn tortillas are wont to do.

"Easy" Enchiladas

Ingredients
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 8-oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
8 flour tortillas (8") (Again, I'm thinking of using 6" corn tortillas, so I'll do 10-12)
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (I'm straining some plain yogurt for this very purpose)
1 cup salsa (I'll use the salsa I made today out of my last-hurrah tomatoes and peppers)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 2 1/4 oz. can sliced black olives, drained

Directions
In a small bowl, combine chicken and cream cheese. Spoon about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla; roll up tightly. Place seam side down in a greased 9x13 baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine yogurt and salsa. Spread over tortillas. Bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and olives. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serves 8.

OR.......

Try this green chile enchilada recipe. I would use TJ's salsa verde instead of doing that whole tomatillo process, which would make it a whole lot easier, and still probably taste awesome. I love this blog!

Frugal Gourmet

So I've been on this frugality kick.

My friend loaned me The Tightwad Gazette and it has been Most inspiring. I highly recommend getting it from the library or at a garage sale, in the true spirit of tightwaddery. But in any case, read it. There are some good ideas [and recipes] in there.

In honor of my new kick, I'm going to put some budget (but still yummy and healthy) recipes up here. Stay tuned.....

Baked Tomato-Garlic "Sauce"

from Better Homes & Gardens, August 2010 (maybe?)
This is really delicious and super easy.

Ingredients
Enough beautiful similarly-sized tomatoes to cover the bottom of your 9x13 in a single layer
1/4 - 1/2 c. EVOO
7 garlic cloves, peeled, split lengthwise, and that little green shoot part removed
Coarse salt (1 - 2 tsp.) and freshly ground black pepper
Goat cheese or feta cheese

Method
1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Arrange tomatoes in a single layer in 9x13 baking dish (make sure it's glass or earthenware, not metal, which is reactive, whatever the heck that means). Stick the garlic halves in between the tomatoes. Pour EVOO on evenly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until skins split and soften, but tomatoes still retain their shape.

4. Serve hot, warm or at room temp. We smashed ours up and made it into kind of a sauce, just stirring the smashed tomatoes and garlic up with the olive oil that was floating around in the bottom of the dish. Then we tossed the baked "sauce" with some pasta (radiatore, I do believe it was) and feta cheese.

The recipe suggests spooning or mashing the tomatoes over slices of toasted bread and serving with goat cheese. Either way... yum. Roasting the tomatoes gives them this awesome sweetness that even Ken liked. And you know he hates tomatoes usually.

Mexican Chicken Soup

from Cook's Country Feb/March 2006
This makes kind of a lot - it says it serves 6-8 and I think that's really true. It tastes amazing though, so you won't be sorry if you have leftovers.

Ingredients
6 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken - breasts or thighs
1 onion, quartered
4 garlic cloves, peeled
10 sprigs cilantro
salt
tomatoes
tomato juice (I used a quart of juice that was leftover from straining homemade salsa)
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, plus 1 T. adobo sauce
1 T. vegetable oil
2 c. frozen corn kernels
2 T. lime juice
Toppings: avocado, cilantro, shredded cheddar or jack, sour cream, crunched up tortilla chips

1. Make broth and cook chicken: Bring 4 c. of the chicken broth, chicken, 2 onion quarters, 2 garlic cloves, cilantro and 1/2 tsp. salt to a boil in large skillet. Cover and reduce heat to low until chicken is cooked through (8-10 minutes). Transfer chicken to a plate.

2. Do the tomato part of broth: In a blender, puree tomatoes, remaining 2 onion quarters and 2 garlic cloves, chipotle and adobo sauce until smooth.

3. Get out your huge soup pot: Heat oil in large pot over high heat until shimmering. Add tomato mixture and 1/8 tsp. salt; cook until darkened in color (8-10 minutes). Strain broth directly into pot with tomato puree (discard solids). Add remaining 2 c. broth, tomato (or salsa) juice, and corn. Simmer to blend flavors, about 5 minutes. Shred chicken into bite-size pieces and add to soup. Stir in lime juice and adjust S&P to taste. Serve with toppings available in small bowls.

How to Do a Roast

Here is the best way to do roast beef that I've found.

This discovery was made when I tried a recipe from good ol' Betty Crocker, and was wowed by the meat (but not by the carrots and potatoes... so now I leave those out). Side note: I am not usually wowed by meat. I usually could not really care less about meat. I'm like, give me mango salsa over roast beef any day. But we live in the Midwest and we're trying to be all things to all men OK? So we do meat and potatoes on Sunday.

Then I asked my friend at church who is an amazing cook: Um, I did a chuck roast in the crockpot, why did it turn out so good? And she said: Chuck roasts are like made for the crockpot. It is a perfect way to cook chuck roast. No more bottom rounds for us. I seriously never buy them anymore. Chuck is just awesome in the slow cooker! Why did no one tell me this before now?

Anyway, without further ado...

Beef with Rosemary
adapted from Betty Crocker's Slow Cooker Cookbook

3 lb. boneless beef chuck roast
3 Tbsp. dijon mustard
2 Tbsp fresh or 1 1/2 tsp. dried chopped/crunched up rosemary leaves
1 tsp. fresh or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. finely chopped onion

Put the roast in the crock pot. In a small bowl mix mustard, rosemary, thyme, S&P. Spread over beef. Sprinkle onions over the top.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Guacamole

I don't think you can call this a recipe, but sometimes people ask me how I make guacamole. Maybe they think that I'm an expert, having lived in an avocado grove. Well, I never compliment myself, but my Friends say that my guacamole is simply divine. So, I will divulge my ingredients. I do wish I could tell you amounts, but, darling, I simply throw it all together. There is no measuring here.

Ingredients

some nice ripe avocados (like 2?)

finely chopped onion (maybe 1/4 of a medium onion)

fresh lime juice (go easy or the lime will be all you taste)

cilantro, finely chopped (a Tbsp?)

cumin

kosher salt

dash of cayenne pepper

Method

Smash up the avocados in a bowl. Then mix in the onion, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust for seasoning, using a chip. Try not to taste and adjust for seasoning until the whole bowl is gone. Share!! or don't :)

What do you put in your guac?

Potatoes Romanoff

I haven't actually made these yet, so we shall see how they turn out.

(OK, I made them, and they were raved about... best part of the meal hands-down)

10 c. chopped potatoes (cut into about 1" chunks; 10-12 medium potatoes)

1 tsp. salt

3 c. cottage cheese (I might change this to 2 c. next time... there is a lot of sauce)

2 c. sour cream (and this to 1 1/2 c.? see note above)

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1/2 c. chopped green onions (having none, I subbed a ton of Sunny Paris seasoning)

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

1. Cook the potatoes in water (cover potatoes by about an inch) and the 1 tsp. salt until tender (simmer about 15 minutes).

2. Mix the cottage cheese, sour cream, garlic and green onions. Mix in the potatoes. Top with shredded cheese and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Keep It Simple: Tomato Basil Pasta

Martha Stewart had this great recipe in the August issue of Living that you must try. I love Martha when she doesn't get all crazy. This recipe has no mention of parchment paper* or shallots, so I tried it, and it was good.
*Amendment: Susan told me to buy some parchment paper, so I did, and it really is cool stuff.

Tomato & Basil pasta
1/4 c. evoo
3 garlic cloves, pressed/minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 lb. short pasta (penne or something)
tomatoes - she says 4 medium but just however many you have - cut up into bite-size
1 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese - cut up into bite-size
basil leaves

1. Cook and drain pasta.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine evoo, garlic, salt & pepper. Toss in the warm pasta. Throw the tomatoes and cheese on top, then top that with the basil leaves and some more salt & pepper.

That's it!

Coffee Punch

I can't take credit for this lovely recipe, I was instructed how to do it. But I am writing it down so I will remember for next time :)

Coffee Punch
a lovely brunch beverage for a hot nasty day from Hades (like today)
1 pot decaf coffee (12 cups, brew it strong)
Between 1/2 and 1 c. sugar, to taste
1/2 gallon milk
1 quart vanilla ice cream (I used a little more than half of a 1.5 qt container)
whipped cream (unsweetened)

Dissolve the sugar in the hot coffee. Let cool. Refrigerate. Before serving, combine coffee with milk and ice cream. There will be globs, that's OK, they will melt. They are serving as the ice cubes, dontcha know :) Top with whipped cream and prepare to amaze your friends and family. This makes a huge amount - I put it in my punch bowl.

Leftover Watermelon: 2 ideas

Blending and straining watermelon to make juice is sort of messy and a pain, but it's well worth it :)

First Idea:
Watermelon Sorbet

3 c. watermelon juice (blend and strain about 3 lbs. seeded cubed watermelon)
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Whisk sugar and watermelon juice together until sugar is dissolved. Stir in salt and lemon juice. Pour into ice cream maker and let it do the rest of the work :) Let it finish freezing in a different container in the freezer. Just make sure you pull it out of the freezer for a while (10 minutes?) before you want to eat some.

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After I made the sorbet, I had extra watermelon juice which I used to make:
Watermelon Lemonade
Juice of 3-4 lemons
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. watermelon juice
add water to make 1/2 gallon

Shake all ingredients together in a container with a tightly screwed-on lid. Soo good over ice on a hot day!

-----------------------------

OK, I lied: I actually had 3 ideas. The last one is just almost too simple to mention, which is:
Pour some of that watermelon juice into your popsicle molds and stick in in your freezer.

There you go.

Berry Tart

I want to try this but it looks kind of fussy. Anybody know a really simple cheater way to make something that looks similar?

New Look and New Take on Bean Pot

I love this new blog design! The background makes me think of a nice cool Washington day. :)

For dinner tonight, we had a new spin on an old favorite: Jamaican Black Beans. This time I threw it all in the crockpot -
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
2 Tbsp (?) molasses
some browned italian sausage that I had in my freezer... so it's no longer vegetarian

I had this going on low heat for about 2 1/2 hours. Then I thought, I should put a sweet potato in there. I don't know about sweet potatoes in the crockpot, and anyway I didn't have much time, so I poked a sweet potato with a fork and put it in the microwave for 7 minutes. Then I let it cool, peeled it, cut it into chunks, and put it in the crockpot for another 30-45 minutes... until dinner time.

Served this goodness with rice and it was awesome! I don't think I'll do it the old way again... and not just because I'm an ENFP. :)

Thai Beef Salad

Here is a recipe from the coolest restaurant in Dayton, Thai Nine.

Dressing:
4 T. lime juice
3 T. fish sauce
1 T. sugar

Salad:
Bed of lettuce or cabbage
5 cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
2 T. thinly sliced red onion
1 T. sliced green onion
1/2 cucumber, halved and sliced
1 T. cilantro, chopped
1 T. basil, chopped
1/2 lb. steak, thinly sliced and pan fried -OR- grilled and then thinly sliced (I did option #1)

Toss to combine salad and dressing! Yummm. We ate this salad for dinner with a side of rice, which nicely soaked up the extra dressing.

Polenta Pie Revival

I updated this recipe. I've been making it forever (never the same way twice... of course :) ) and finally hit upon the brilliance that was tonight's dinner. Even Ken said so..... and it was vegetarian. Now that's saying something.

I think it was the perfect combo of salty cheese plus sweet corn plus tangy tomatoes and tomatillos plus oniony onions plus mildly spicy chipotle pepper. That was just what I had on hand, but we struck gold!! Plus it's easy, and cheap. Check it out.