Wild rice with rotisserie chicken

2012-3-3

Quick, yummy, and healthy I can claim. My recipe, not so much.

A friend had delivered a cooked chicken, a rotisserie chicken. I purchased a couple packages of Near East wild rice (with spice packs), a package of organic carrots, a package of organic celery, and a red onion.

I cooked the wild rice on stove top.

In a pan, I caramelized the finely sliced red onion, using olive oil, on medium heat. Once the onion was done, I added the carrots and celery. I added chicken broth and sea salt. Placed a lid on the pan. Cooked the carrots and celery on the stove for approximately 15-20 minutes.

I preheated the oven to 375. In a stoneware rectangular pan (like one used to bake lasagna), 9 x 13 (I think), I covered the bottom with the contents of the frying pan (carrots, celery, red onion, broth). Next layer up, I sprinkled freshly grounded peppercorn (mine had a variety of colors, different kinds of peppercorn), followed by rotisserie chicken torn into pieces. The top layer was the cooked wild rice. I covered the stoneware with aluminum foil and baked the dish for 45 minutes.

Time was spend peeling carrots, washing celery, and cutting the vegetables. Other than that, the dish doesn't take much effort or time to make. And the dish was popular amongst the friends with whom I had shared.

Avocado and Mango Salsa

2012-3-3

I cannot lay claim to creating anything here, except for quick and easy goodness. I bought the mango salsa at Sunflower Farmer's Market, my favorite grocery store. I am not being offered any incentive to speak for or on behalf of the store. If there were a Trader Joe's here, I'd be in even more trouble; love, love, love that grocery store.

This morning, while my friend was making me a delicious omelet (with asparagus, tomatoes, shittake mushrooms, and green onions), I was looking to fill my tummy quickly. Nursing twins gets me hungry in a ravenous sort of fashion. Having some avocado purchased me a few moments.

Egg Drop Soup

2012-2-25

Egg Drop Soup

This morning, I set out to make a meal for a couple. On the docket included: white rice, egg drop soup, fried rice, and fresh strawberries and blueberries. I have posted my recipe for fried rice. But, egg drop soup is new here.

The good news is: I can and will share all the ingredients to my soup. The bad news is: I have no exact measurements to share. Wasn't making careful observation of what I was doing. Another piece of good news is that it turned out superb.

Ingredients:

• water
• organic free range chicken broth
• sea salt
• soy sauce
• freshly ground peppercorn
  
• ground ginger
• green onions
  
• free range brown eggs
• corn

Make sure the green onions are cut fine.


But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Directions:

• In a pot, add water and chicken broth. The ratio was roughly 1/2 water or 1/2 chicken broth. In the end, the soup might have become more 1/3 chicken broth and 2/3 water. On high, bring to a boil. Beat eggs (I think I used 10) in a bowl and set aside. Once the broth is on a high boil, begin the egg drizzle. This takes concentration and some work. Do NOT pour all the eggs in at once. I poured a little (perhaps 1/6 of the entire amount) and continuously (non-stop) gently stirred. Then I added some water, waited until the broth was again boiling a lot, after which I added some more water. Repeat until all the eggs are in the soup. Two points - constantly stirring when the eggs are poured in and making sure the liquid is boiling before adding more eggs - are crucial to avoid the eggs clumping (unless you're trying to make poached eggs).

• Turn stove to medium heat (from high). Then the other ingredients can go into the soup: thinly sliced green onions, minced garlic, sea salt (I probably used at least several tablespoons), soy sauce (I used just a bit, enough to barely color the broth), ground ginger (a couple or a few pinches), freshly ground peppercorns (I used around 10-12 peppercorns), corn (I used frozen corn).

• Allow to simmer for a few minutes, and the soup is ready to serve.
  

2012-2-25

I was really pleased with the results.

2012-2-25

My mouth is watering just writing about it.

Garden Fresh Vegetable Soup

2011-9-5

Garden Fresh Vegetable Soup

These are just some of the gorgeous vegetables with which two families from church blessed us this past Sunday, yesterday. I got everything from zucchini to two different kinds of potatoes to two different kinds of onions. Decided to make a hearty soup out of everything except one of the vegetables. I also had a some cooked beans, the beans of which also were home grown by a friend's mom.

These vegetables need to be enjoyed, before this very pregnant mommy decides that energy is non-existent and is rendered incapable of doing anything in the kitchen.

2011-9-4

In a pan with a bit of olive oil on lower medium heat, I cooked the onions. Once the onions were almost done, I dropped in the potatoes, cut into little chunks or squares, along with some water. Cook the potatoes until done.

Throw all the other vegetables, peeled (where ever appropriate or desired - carrots, cucumbers, etc.) and cut, into a pot. I used water exclusively as the broth. Once the vegetables have been cooking, they form a rich flavored, mouthwatering broth. The spices and flavoring I used for the soup included:

• sea salt
• freshly ground black peppercorns
• a few hints of cinnamon
• some Hungarian paprika
• a bit of soy sauce (just a bit)
• a few drizzles of Worcestershire sauce
  

I dropped the cooked beans my friend gave me after everything else was tender. I'm not sure what all went into cooking those beans. Some bacon, I believe, was dropped into cooking them; so, the soup cannot qualify as vegetarian.

Cook the soup for awhile to allow the various flavors to spread. Then it's ready to serve. I enjoy my soups with rice, over rice.

Pesto, perfectly thick pesto sauce

2011-8-25

Pesto, perfectly thick pesto sauce

I hadn't planned on my recipe blogging hiatus to be the norm but more of an exception. However, this pregnancy with twins had thrown my love affair with food off course into to the uncharted territory of picky, easily offended senses. Pesto is a more recent love or desire, and I hadn't attempted making my own until quite recently. This is my third attempt at tweaking with various ingredients, and I am pretty satisfied with this rendition.

The results were thick, and the version I made was on the salty side. However, this pesto, for my intent, wasn't and isn't meant to be eaten along. I've served it atop plain pasta and I have also used it on cheese pizza (along with fresh olives and freshly grated muenster cheese).

Here's my recipe to share:

In a blender, blend the following:

• 4 oz of basil
• 2 cups of freshly grated parmesan (I purchased a chunk of parmesan and grated it using a hand grater)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/3 c. of pine nuts
• 26 peppercorns (I used a pepper mill to grind the peppercorns)
• 2/3 c. olive oil
• sea salt (I don't know exactly how much I used)

Once blended evenly and well, empty blender contents into sauce pan, along with 1/3 - 2/3 c. organic chicken broth and 1/3 c. whole milk. On low to low-medium heat, bring to a gentle boil, and the work is done. Use the pesto sauce in whatever way is pleasing to you.

After eating it once over pasta, my pregnancy pickiness wanted something different. Having it on a cheese pizza, along with fresh, pitted calamata olives and freshly grated muenster cheese was tasty as well. What is your pleasure?

A fancy schmancy pepper mill

I got myself a splurge. I've been wanting a pepper mill or grinder for awhile now. I have a pepper grinder for black peppercorns or rainbow peppercorns. But, I needed one for white peppercorns or something that would allow me to interchange them frequently and easily.

And yes, the taste is so different using freshly ground pepper, in contrast to the store-purchased pre-ground pepper. By a country mile.

I saw this beauty on sale, marked down not once, not twice, but thrice. Even then, I wasn't sure I should buy it. After all, though cooking well is still a high priority, being frugal is, well, a must. In the end, I gave in to the whispers of the Peugeot Olivier Roellinger Pepper Mill, yesterday. And, thrice, with utter thrill and excitement, it has been used today. Got a bit too carried away one of those times today. Used in a egg and tomato stir fry this morning. Used it when making pesto this afternoon. Followed by making hot and sour soup. Wow, way too much of the black peppercorns and white peppercorns for that soup; set my mouth and face on FIRE. Still could appreciate the complex flavors of the freshly ground pepper, however.

Seared salmon

2011-5-4

Seared Salmon

Fish and meat can easily be overcooked. Results of overcooking, depending on the food in question, is dry, rubbery, over chewy crap. For fish, I don't recommend baking, unless super carefully monitored; easily overcooked when baking.

I pan fried - seared - the salmon.

My sister came for a visit and picked up all kinds of goodies. This morning, I seared the salmon. This afternoon, I tended to the pork and ribs, decorated with celery, carrots, mushrooms, red onion, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and other spices. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Back to the salmon, in a pan on lower medium heat, with some green onions and olive oil, I sizzled the green onions for several minutes. Then I dropped in the salmon (which was frozen but had been defrosting in the refrigerator), adding sea salt and a bit of soy sauce for flavor. Should be somewhat pink and transparent on the inside. It was amazing that I didn't overcook any of the fish (I cooked six pieces of salmon, three at a time), considering I was also getting my children out of their bath and helping to dress them. . .

Cooked just right. Delicious.