Boiling the Bones

The other thing that happened at the end of last year, was i moved to a new apartment. This one has a little bit bigger kitchen. That means I can experiment a little more. the increase in counter space means I think I can make pizza..

I want the focus to still be on good old fashioned comfort food, with a a direction in cooking for two. That will be my challenge. I always cook for a crowd. When there really is just two of us.

More on soup stuff:


one of the things i learn working in the restaurant, was that if you roast the bones, you get a richer flavor to your broth. The trick is not to let them burn, but to give them a nice brown color.

In the stock pot, put in plenty of water and salt. also add veggies, like onion, celery, carrots.

let it simmer all day. i sometimes use my crock when making stock.

When I'm satisfied with it. I strain it toll the bones, and the veggies. Toss the bones. skim the fat off then freeze it.

Did you know that it easier to remove that fat from frozen broth? Reason because the fat doesn't freeze as hard as the broth.

Kimmie's Corn Chowder

I am ready rename the Midwest the Freezer. yes, it is winter, and winter is cold, and I did move here for the change in seasons, but I'm done. I am ready for spring.

On that note, the being cold part, I have been thinking about my favorite soups and stews. Tonight we will be having corn chowder, and as I  am always trying to loose weight, again, I will be making a light version. It will still be thick and yummy, but here is the regular version first.



Ingredients
1 12 to 16 oz bag of frozen corn
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
1/2 onion copped
1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
4 oz lean ham diced.
1 quart cream of celery soup
2 chicken bullion cubes
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sugar

Garnish
sour cream
chives
crumbled bacon

Start by putting the corn in the bottom of the crock pot. next add the onion, bell pepper, an the potatoes.

 Stir together. Add the celery soup. Turn the crock pot on high, and bring to a simmer.

After it has simmered together for 2 hours, add sugar, salt and pepper. mix well.  Take about a quarter of the soup and put in a blender; blend until smooth. Add back to the pot. Turn down to low for two more hours. 

Serve with sour cream, bacon and chives.

To lighten this up, substitute cream of celery soup for low fat chicken broth, use low fat milk and light sour cream,  and turkey bacon. 

To get the same flavor, you'll need to add 1/3 cup finely diced celery and 1 teaspoon celery seeds. Add these at the beginning when mixing the corn onion and potato.

Tangy Orange Chicken

Searching for recipes is fun. I'm always looking for a fun recipe to try. One that caught my eye is Tangy Orange Chicken. I like to order it in Chinese restaurants, but I always feel it is missing something.  For one thing some vegetables would be nice. Also when watching for weight,  it's good to avoid fried things.

There is a Tangy Orange Chicken on Chefville. Now fair, because it made me hungry for it.

2 pounds chicken breast cut in 1 in pieces

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 Tablespoons Teriyaki sauce

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons minced ginger
2 Tablespoons chili sauce
6 table spoons of vinegar
4 cups mixed veggies, (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
1/2 onion diced
1 bell pepper diced, any color

Add soy sauce, teriyaki, ginger, garlic, vinegar, brown sugar, and orange juice in a small sauce pan on low. heat just until Brown sugar is dissolved and sauce is smooth. put chicken and  1/2 the ssauce in a Ziploc bag and marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour.

heat some canola oil or peanut oil in a large skillet, cCook the chicken about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper and onion. continue cooking. add the veggies and the rest of the sauce. cook until  chicken is cooked through.

Serve with hot rice and orange slices.

My Spaghetti

What do you do with a dozen Roma tomatoes that disparately need to used? Make spaghetti. All part of  the proper care and feeding of my curmudgeon.

I chopped about a dozen tomatoes and put them in a sauce pan with a little salted water. They boiled about an hour. Poured back in the pan added 4 beef bouillon cubes, a little more salt, minced onion,  and tomato paste and balsamic vinegar. Blended it till smooth in myVita mix, and then poured back into the pan

I cooked it for anther 45 minutes, added Italian seasoning. 

In a large skillet browned a pound of ground beef, celery, onion and green pepper. salt pepper and Italian seasoning. 

Next put pasta on to boil. cook to package instructions, drain, add pack to pot with butter parley and basil. mix well. 

Add sauce to ground beef, pour over pasta and serve  yum. The curmudgeon said it was so disgusting that I could torture him again with in any time. ha ha

. 

For the sauce:

12 Roma tomatoes

3 tablespoons dried minced onion

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

    

Ground beef mixture

1 lbs ground beef

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 small onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons balsamic

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

For the pasta

1 lbs spaghetti

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoons parsley

Happy New Year

Hello, it's been a while. I took a little break to clear my mind. Maybe get a little perspective on this blog thing.

It's still true. I love cooking a and i like writing.  Since the last post, I played some games, won a chili contest at the j o b, (is it kosher to beat your boss?) oh, yeah,  and started a novel. historical fiction with a little magic. ( she grins her Cheshire cat grin).

We had a fabulous Christmas dinner followed by a great brithday lunch at Zio's. That was so good. yum.

Then the new year came, an I got the flu. Yuck but i seem to be on the mend.

Since I've been down, i have come up with some interesting soup recipes, which I will share in a bit.

So, Happy New year, and I think we will start with breakfast.

Potatoes are so good. they are warm and comforting. I think that's why they are such a popular comfort food.

This used to be a favorite breakfast. I used to make it every Sunday morning. It's kind of like Potatoes O'Brien, except that the potatoes are shredded. One of my Grannies used to make us hash browns when we go visit. Funny how food can trigger memories.

With a big plate of potatoes veggies and eggs, I'd then watch a little football, and have a yummy brunch.

It's basically a cookie scramble with a special twist.

This makes 2 generous servings.

1 large russet potato

1/4 onion diced

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

1/4 cup sliced mushrooms

2 eggs

2 oz sharp cheddar cheese

3 oz cooked sausage, crumbled

4 Tbls sour cream

4 Tbls chunky salsa

2 Tbls olive oil

Clean and shred the potato. add the olive oil to a large non stick pan over medium heat. add potato when hot. Fry till crisp on one side then flip. Don't stir let it cook in in one piece. After the hash browns are crispy on both sides, take out of the skillet, place on an oven proof plate. set in a 200 degree oven to keep warm.

In the same skillet, cook the sausage crumbles, onion and bell pepper. 5 minutes before finished add the mushrooms.

top the hash browns with cheese, and the onion pepper mixture. wipe the skillet and fry the eggs.

split the potatoes in 1/2 top each half with a fried egg, Each gets 2 tablespoons of sour cream and salsa