I’m taking comprehensive exams to finish my Masters of Science this week. Look forward to recipes that hurry up with a real quickness. No time to waste cooking is where its at.
Quickest Creamy Tomato Soup
Serves 4 as a side dish or two for dinner
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Combine all ingredients, bring to a simmer, and enjoy!
I know there are all sorts of tips circulating to help you reduce you’re energy usage, among other things. Here are some of the things that I do. Since I cook so much I have more dishes than the normal household…
Mix and store in a water proof container under the sink (or a pretty container on the counter top). I use 2 tsp. at a time, but in your case, be sure to determine how much you need from your owner’s manual.
“Why do I want this recipe” you ask? Because, your pork chops suck without it. This can brine up to 4 medium-sized chops. It easily doubles and triples for pork loin or a whole pork butt.
Ingredients
Blend first 3 ingredients in a big bowl, mixing with your hand to dissolve the salt and sugar. Add the ice, and your pork chops and cover. Let this sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, and up to 12 hours, or overnight. Drain and dry the chops before using.
These wings are memorable and totally worth the effort, but you must start them the night before. They will cook faster, and be more tender, so keep that in mind. You can double or triple the recipe if your grill is big enough. Yes, Superbowl food? More like HELL FIRE yes, Superbowl food.
Ingredient List
DAY 1:
Mix first four ingredients together. Add up to 30 wing pieces. Marinate overnight, covered, in the refrigerator.
DAY 2:
Preheat your charcoal grill.
Discard the onions and drain the wings in a colander atleast 1 hour before grilling.
Mix 3 tbsp. of vegetable oil, ½ tbsp. of salt, onion powder, cayenne powder, chili powder and paprika in large bowl. Turn wings into oil mixture and let come to room temperature. BBQ wings at 250-300 degrees; keeping wings moving for 40-50 minutes, moving to the side to indirect heat to cook if fire is too hot.
Make sweet hot mop: simmer 1 cup of water, 1 ½ tsp. cayenne powder (less if you’re scared), ¼ cup maple syrup and ¼ cup honey until reduced to ½ cup. Let cool.
Check for wing doneness by eating a whole wing; the texture has changed since brining, they will not be their normal stringy, dry selves. When the wings are done, brush them with maple syrup/honey and cayenne mop and serve warm.
GO TEAM!
This risotto is great for lunch or a picnic, and is best served warm or at room temperature. Serve this with a cool cucumber salad. The celery heart adds a nice crunch, and everybody knows you buy celery for the stalks, so put the hearts aside for this recipe.
Ham & Cheddar Risotto
4 Cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups Risotto (Arborio rice)
½ tsp. salt, or to taste
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Cup shredded ham (left over or lunchmeat is fine)
3 Tablespoons celery heart, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh dill, minced
This requires two burners and two pots (it’s totally worth cleaning the extra pot!). Bring the stock to a simmer in one pot. Heat another medium-sized pot and add the olive oil, onion and garlic. Add the risotto after the onion and garlic are fragrant and transparent. Toast the risotto for 5 minutes.
Add two or three ladles of stock to the risotto. Allow the risotto to absorb the stock before adding more. You can tell when the liquid is absorbed and it’s time for more stock when you draw a line down the middle of the pot with a spatula and the line doesn’t fill back right away. Add the stock by the ladle full until there is no more stock left (about 15 minutes). Taste the risotto for salt and doneness. If it is not done, add small amounts of water until it is soft like rice. If you are using older, stale risotto this can take longer.
When the risotto is done add the cheese, ham, celery heart and dill. Let the risotto cool for 5 minutes, covered, do develop its creaminess.
Enjoy!
I have tried many vegetarian or vegetable stock recipes that leave you wishing for fatty skin and cartilage. It took some time but I found a solution. This all-purpose broth can be frozen or keeps in the fridge for up to a week.
The recipe that follows always works for me because I always keep the ingredients on hand, but whatever vegetables you happen to have laying around will work just as well. If you do not have a bottle of black or white truffle oil then go BUY ONE! It’s hard to substitute for its use and it has many other practical uses like as dipping oil or to add flavor to any bland soup.
A short list of things I would suggest you add, pending their availability and the season, are potatoes, parsnips, zucchini, squash, any type of mushroom, cayenne peppers, bell peppers and any fresh herbs. I have had great luck with all of them. Note to fresh bay leaf users: fresh bay leaves impart a very ethnic taste to stock, so use only half or a quarter of the leaft at a time. Also, any high-quality flavored oil will add depth.
A cookbook from the 1700′s that I recently read said that people used to go crazy over the broth from boiled potatoes. We just throw it out after cooking them, but i suppose we should save it. The potato broth adds more texture than it does taste but it’s a great alternative to corn starch. I suggest adding potatoes to the broth if a recipe calls for a thickening powder, like arrow root or cornstarch.
I have made this broth with whatever quantity of vegetables I have in the fridge before a long weekend away or when any veggie is too ripe to eat raw. In other words, it’s a great use of vegetables that would have otherwise gone straight into the garbage.
Vegetables ready for soup.
Vegetable Broth
Makes 6-7 cups of broth
10 cups water
4 carrots, peeled & halved
4 celery stalks, each cut into 3 pieces
1 poblano or bell pepper, sliced
3 tomatoes coarsely chopped
2 large onions sliced horizontally into 3 large sets of rings
1 shallot, sliced like the onion (can be omitted, just add 2 more cloves garlic)
5 garlic cloves, smashed
10 stalks whole fresh parsley
1/2 tbsp. salt, or even better, dill salt
½ tsp. truffle oilCombine all ingredients in a large, deep pot and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Remove all large chunks of vegetables with tongs or a slotted spoon and strain, if desired. Taste for salt content, as sometimes I’ve doubled the salt to 1 tbsp. depending on how much liquid the vegetables give off.
Enjoy!
Po-zo-lee: pork and white hominy soup with chile broth and fresh vegetables for garnish. It really hits the spot on a cold day. Haven’t tried this yet? Jump on the band wagon. This is what Mexicans eat during the holidays. Expand your repertoire, y’all.
Posole
2 lbs. Pork butt, cut into large chunks
3 carrots peeled, and cut into large chunks
2 onions quartered
3 stalks of celery, cut into thirds
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp.s Mexican oregano (regular is fine)
2 tsp.s ground cumin
4 tsp. salt
1 bunch cilantro, divided
4-5 dried guajillo peppers (ground about 1/4 cup)
3 14 1/2 oz. cans white hominy(posole), drainedGarnishes
1 cup shredded green or purple cabbage
3/4 bunch cilantro chopped
5 radishes, sliced
1 white onion, chopped
Limes, quartered (I use about 5)
Fill a large stock pot with 10 cups of water. Place pork chunks, carrots, onions, celery, cumin, oregano, garlic, salt and 1/4 the bunch of cilantro in the pot and bring to a boil. Skim any brown bubbles that collect on the surface of the water. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the pork begins to fall apart. This can take any where from 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on your desire of doneness.
While the broth is simmering, grind the peppers in a spice or coffee grinder as fine as possible. Grind enough dried peppers to fill a 1/4 cup. Add the ground peppers after the broth has been skimmed.
When the pork is fork tender, remove it to a plate and set aside. Strain the broth to remove all vegetables and large chunks of ground dried peppers. Return the broth to the pot and add the white hominy. Simmer until the corn is warm and somewhat tender. Approximately 15-20 minutes.
Add the pork chunks back to the broth and serve with garnishes. N-Joy!
Since I was in Scotland in 2010, and got to see the big cities as well as the country side, I got a good grip on the food. One of the best things I tried is called Cullen Skink. The name doesn’t describe this creamy smoky haddock chowder very well to most Americans. Cullen is a Scottish fishing town, and skink means soup. It’s easy to make and the smoked haddock is worth the extra searching in your grocery store. My butcher in Oklahoma even carries it, so chances are you shouldn’t have too hard a time finding it.
Cullen Skink
Serves 3-4 people
2 cups mini red or yellow waxy potatoes, scrubbed and halved
4 tbsp. butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
4 fresh ground peppercorns
1 smoked haddock
Water
Salt
4 cups milk
Garnish: chopped chives, parsley or scallions
Melt the butter in a deep pot and add the onions, celery onions, and pepper. Fry until the vegetables are soft but not browning, about 3 minutes. Add the fish to the pot. Then, add water to cover the fish and simmer until the skin comes off the fish. Remove the fish and set aside to cool.
When cool enough to handle, discard the skin, flake the fish meat and set aside, but add the fish bones back to the pot and simmer for about an hour. Simmer for an hour to make a broth.
Strain the broth and return to the pot. Add the potatoes and milk and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat. Add the flaked fish and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish and serve with warm crusty bread.
Too squeamish to use chicken carcasses? Too broke to use whole chickens? Try my recipe for easy flavorful chicken stock, as well as some incidentally tender chicken that can be used for any shredded chicken recipe.
This recipe serves two purposes: you can also shred the chicken, add carrots, celery, parsley, potatoes and noodles for a really down home chicken noodle soup!
Worth-it Chicken Stock
Makes approximately 8 cups
5 chicken thighs (frozen boneless & skinless works best for me, however fresh thighs with skin and bones are great as well)
1 large onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled & chopped into coins
3 stalks of celery, chopped
2 tbsp. salt or dill salt
1 tbsp. fresh ground black pepper
5 sprigs parsley
2 tomatoes, deglopped & chopped (optional)
10 cups water
Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot, and cover with 10 cups of water. Bring the stock to a boil, and simmer for about an hour, or until the chicken is fork tender. Check for salt content and store in glass jars. Jars can be frozen for 2 months or refrigerated for 5 days.
What the heck is this? This is a seriously strong, dilly, salty concontion that should not only sit on my spice rack anymore!The salt actually preserves the dill, and it nicely absorbs the dilly taste. I use it in place of fresh dill like in a soup, vinagriette, or in herb bread.
This salt takes about a week set up well, so make it ahead of time for the holidays. Also, it only gets better with time so you’ll enjoy it for about a year.
I suppose that any herb could be used this way, however dill is the most useful in my kitchen. Also, I can never find enough uses for my fresh dill, and I always fear I might waste some! Do I sound crazy? Is this why my brother asked me if I will name my first born son Dillon? LOL.
Dill Salt
Makes 1 cup
1 cup kosher salt
5 fresh dill stalks with fronds
Combine salt and dill in a small jar. Cut the stalks in thirds or fourths, so the dill is completely covered with the salt. Let sit for about a week, and use in place of regular salt for added flavor.