In the spirit of the holidays, here's an incredible cookie recipe. Seriously, I LOVE these cookies. There's not a lot of stuff that I eat and immediately fall in love with. When I smelled them baking, I thought someone was baking a homemade pie. They have such a great (but pleasantly MILD) spice essence. They're NOT like ginger snaps. They're much more mellow. They're like sugar cookies with a Christmas-y twist. And the best part is, when I made the recipe at home, it came out just as good (no offense, Carrie - it was your baking of these that inspired me)! And the recipe is really quite easy. You MUST try them....
MOLASSES COOKIES
Note - this recipe card came with the "history" of the recipe, so I feel like I should include that here...in honor of those who made this recipe what it is and were kind enough to share it with future bakers: (Liz McFaul)->Mary Underwood->Carrie Valentine->Kat Michaels
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar plus more for rolling
¾ cup shortening
1 egg
4 Tbsp molasses
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
Directions:
Using an electric mixer, first mix all ingredients except flour, then add in flour and mix a bit more (doesn’t take much mixing…probably about a minute, but I don’t suppose it would hurt to mix more – as long as all the ingredients are well combined). Place a couple of Tablespoons (or more) sugar on a small plate. Take the dough, and make into balls (about rounded Tablespoon sized). Roll each ball in sugar and place into a bowl. Chill the dough balls for about an hour (this prevents the cookies from coming out really flat).Then bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes (my oven is pretty accurate and it took 15). This recipe made 28 cookies for me, but of course, it depends on how big you make the dough balls.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Chunky Tomato Chicken Soup
Is it cold where you are? Well, it's...."cold".....here in LA (I had to put that in quotes because I realize it's extremely subjective). For us wimps on the left coast, it's a bit colder than it was a few weeks ago, so I guess we can call that fall. Anyhow, if it's at all cold where you are, then you'll really enjoy this one. Warning - it's a bit spicy. You can forgo or greatly reduce the chili powder if you don't like spice. And you can thank Julz for this one - she's my artsy, craftsy, cooking-ey, baking-ey friend.
CHUNKY TOMATO CHICKEN SOUP
Description:
Shredded chicken is added to a soup that combines canned tomatoes, tomato paste, black beans, and green chilies in a well-seasoned chicken broth. (It's basically a cross between chicken soup and chili).
Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Nonstick cooking spray
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (I used a lot more (like 6 large cloves) because I like it. Tasted good to me!)
4 cups chicken broth (32 ounces, which is usually the size of a carton at the store)
Two 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
One 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
One 6 oz can tomato paste
One 4 oz can diced green chilies (I got Ortega fire roasted mild. Use whatever kind you find - it's loose)
1 tsp chili powder (I used "Arbol" chili powder from the Mexican market. Julz used Cayenne pepper. Either way, I think it turned out quite spicy, so if you're not into spicy, either skip this ingredient, or just put a little dash)
1 tbsp ground cumin, or to taste
1 tsp white pepper (Whatever. I just used regular pepper. I'm not sure of the difference)
1 tbsp basil, dried (I used fresh, since I have a plant. In this case, I think the dried might be a better choice. With fresh, you have to use 3 times as much (literally - that's the conversion rate), and I don't think that in a soup, it really makes a difference).
1 tsp kosher salt (Again, a big "whatever" here. I used regular salt)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (this may be the last ingredient, but it REALLY adds a lot of yummy flavor, so don't skip it!)
Instructions:
Lightly spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Cook chicken breasts until no pink remains. Remove chicken from pan and set aside to cool. Add onion and garlic to pan and cook just until onions start to sweat (I would cook them longer. I found that even after the recipe was totally done, the onions were not entirely soft. I don't like crunchy onions in my soup, so I would just go ahead and cook them until they're translucent, which will make them softer); remove from heat. In large stock pot combine onions, garlic, chicken broth, tomatoes, black beans, tomato paste, green chilies, chili powder, cumin, white pepper and salt. (The instructions seem to have left out the basil, so I went ahead and added it here with all the other ingredients. I'm not sure if that's the right time to add it, since the flavor cooks out of herbs so easily. It tasted good, so I guess the timing was okay). Stir well. Bring to a boil. Shred chicken into bite sized pieces and add to soup. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes then turn off heat. Stir in fresh cilantro before serving. (I just stirred the fresh cilantro into the individual serving bowls. Really adds a great fresh flavor).
I served this soup with big chunky bread and butter. It definitely needs some sort of carbohydrate to go with it, in my opinion. You could also put some Fritos Corn Chips on it (my friend Mary makes a great "Taco Soup" that uses Fritos on top).
So, bundle up and enjoy this hot (in every sense of the word) soup! Farewell from frigid Southern California. ;-)
CHUNKY TOMATO CHICKEN SOUP
Description:
Shredded chicken is added to a soup that combines canned tomatoes, tomato paste, black beans, and green chilies in a well-seasoned chicken broth. (It's basically a cross between chicken soup and chili).
Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Nonstick cooking spray
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (I used a lot more (like 6 large cloves) because I like it. Tasted good to me!)
4 cups chicken broth (32 ounces, which is usually the size of a carton at the store)
Two 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
One 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
One 6 oz can tomato paste
One 4 oz can diced green chilies (I got Ortega fire roasted mild. Use whatever kind you find - it's loose)
1 tsp chili powder (I used "Arbol" chili powder from the Mexican market. Julz used Cayenne pepper. Either way, I think it turned out quite spicy, so if you're not into spicy, either skip this ingredient, or just put a little dash)
1 tbsp ground cumin, or to taste
1 tsp white pepper (Whatever. I just used regular pepper. I'm not sure of the difference)
1 tbsp basil, dried (I used fresh, since I have a plant. In this case, I think the dried might be a better choice. With fresh, you have to use 3 times as much (literally - that's the conversion rate), and I don't think that in a soup, it really makes a difference).
1 tsp kosher salt (Again, a big "whatever" here. I used regular salt)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (this may be the last ingredient, but it REALLY adds a lot of yummy flavor, so don't skip it!)
Instructions:
Lightly spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Cook chicken breasts until no pink remains. Remove chicken from pan and set aside to cool. Add onion and garlic to pan and cook just until onions start to sweat (I would cook them longer. I found that even after the recipe was totally done, the onions were not entirely soft. I don't like crunchy onions in my soup, so I would just go ahead and cook them until they're translucent, which will make them softer); remove from heat. In large stock pot combine onions, garlic, chicken broth, tomatoes, black beans, tomato paste, green chilies, chili powder, cumin, white pepper and salt. (The instructions seem to have left out the basil, so I went ahead and added it here with all the other ingredients. I'm not sure if that's the right time to add it, since the flavor cooks out of herbs so easily. It tasted good, so I guess the timing was okay). Stir well. Bring to a boil. Shred chicken into bite sized pieces and add to soup. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes then turn off heat. Stir in fresh cilantro before serving. (I just stirred the fresh cilantro into the individual serving bowls. Really adds a great fresh flavor).
I served this soup with big chunky bread and butter. It definitely needs some sort of carbohydrate to go with it, in my opinion. You could also put some Fritos Corn Chips on it (my friend Mary makes a great "Taco Soup" that uses Fritos on top).
So, bundle up and enjoy this hot (in every sense of the word) soup! Farewell from frigid Southern California. ;-)
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Learning By Osmosis?
Well, I'm still no expert, but I have to say, I've had a couple of "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" cooking sessions lately and they both turned out great! And, some old classics that I was never good at have started to suddenly come out right. I'm thinking maybe all that watching of the Food Network has left some random knowledge in my brain.
So my latest exciting experiment that TOTALLY worked out was soup. Yes, soup - seems easy - seems boring - but it's NOT. It's always been an enigma to me. I'm just not a soup maker. I did make that tomato basil bisque a few months ago, but that was strictly following a recipe. And I think of bisque more like it's own category - as opposed to soup. I think of soup as liquid, vegetables, maybe some kind of grain or beans or something, and maybe some protein. I have never made soup, for whatever reason. It turned out SOOOO yummy - I was totally surprised, since I really didn't have any idea what I was doing. It was hot and savory, thick and chunky with veggies, and with a little parmesan grated over the top, it was DELICIOSO!
It all started because I had all these vegetables that I wanted to use up before they went bad - and I also had an opened container of chicken broth, which also needed to be used up. I didn't have onions, which would have been nice, but I did have garlic (always easy to keep around the house, because it lasts forever). So here's what I did ... mind you, I can hardly call it a true "recipe", since there aren't amounts, but consider it a guide.
Vegetable Soup with Orzo (all amounts are really approximate):
Into a large soup pot, I put 2 VERY large cloves of crushed garlic (probably the equvalent of at least 4 regular sized cloves). I added 3 Tbsp butter and melted it over very low heat, stirring constantly (garlic burns so easily). I added about 3 Tbsp (maybe a little more) of all purpose flour and stirred the mixture constantly while still over a low flame. Even though the flame was low, the mixture was sizzling pretty good the whole time (probably because the pot I used is fairly thin-bottomed. After about 3 minutes, I started adding the chicken broth (NOTE: I really don't have any idea how much chicken broth I used, but it doesn't really matter anyway. It depends on how chunky or liquidy or prefer your soup to be). So, I added the broth a little at a time, and mixing it in with the roux (FYI - roux is the flour/butter (and in this case, also garlic) mixture)). Once the mixture is all liquid, just pour the rest of the broth in.
Now for the veggies. I added what veggies I had (any number of veggies would work). I added 2 large carrots (sliced medium thick), celery (sliced pretty chunky - and you can also add the celery leaves...they add flavor), and a crown of brocolli (cut up into large bites). At this point, you should turn the heat up to high to heat up the liquid. I decided at this point that I should add some sort of grain or pasta, so I poured in a little orzo (about 1/3 cup, I think). Remember, orzo is pasta and it expands, so you don't need a ton of it. You're not making an "orzo dish". You just want a bit of pasta in your soup to add texture and substance. I also didn't feel like I had enough liquid in the pot, so I added about 2 or 3 cups of water. Stir as needed to mix up all the ingredients. You should be over high heat at this point to get the liquids hot again.
Flavoring - it's totally up to your taste, but I added some garlic salt, the crumbs on the bottom of my "Bay Leaf" spice jar, dried parsley, salt, pepper, seasoning salt, and a tiny bit of Worchestershire sauce (random, I know - it just struck me as tasty). And, I had some fresh cilantro that I wanted to use up as well, so I threw in about 20 to 30 whole cilantro leaves. Once the mixture boiled, I turned the heat back down to low and put a lid on the pot. I let it simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes.
To serve, you can grate fresh parmesan or other cheese over the top. I also threw some of the fresh cilantro on top. Yummm!
So my latest exciting experiment that TOTALLY worked out was soup. Yes, soup - seems easy - seems boring - but it's NOT. It's always been an enigma to me. I'm just not a soup maker. I did make that tomato basil bisque a few months ago, but that was strictly following a recipe. And I think of bisque more like it's own category - as opposed to soup. I think of soup as liquid, vegetables, maybe some kind of grain or beans or something, and maybe some protein. I have never made soup, for whatever reason. It turned out SOOOO yummy - I was totally surprised, since I really didn't have any idea what I was doing. It was hot and savory, thick and chunky with veggies, and with a little parmesan grated over the top, it was DELICIOSO!
It all started because I had all these vegetables that I wanted to use up before they went bad - and I also had an opened container of chicken broth, which also needed to be used up. I didn't have onions, which would have been nice, but I did have garlic (always easy to keep around the house, because it lasts forever). So here's what I did ... mind you, I can hardly call it a true "recipe", since there aren't amounts, but consider it a guide.
Vegetable Soup with Orzo (all amounts are really approximate):
Into a large soup pot, I put 2 VERY large cloves of crushed garlic (probably the equvalent of at least 4 regular sized cloves). I added 3 Tbsp butter and melted it over very low heat, stirring constantly (garlic burns so easily). I added about 3 Tbsp (maybe a little more) of all purpose flour and stirred the mixture constantly while still over a low flame. Even though the flame was low, the mixture was sizzling pretty good the whole time (probably because the pot I used is fairly thin-bottomed. After about 3 minutes, I started adding the chicken broth (NOTE: I really don't have any idea how much chicken broth I used, but it doesn't really matter anyway. It depends on how chunky or liquidy or prefer your soup to be). So, I added the broth a little at a time, and mixing it in with the roux (FYI - roux is the flour/butter (and in this case, also garlic) mixture)). Once the mixture is all liquid, just pour the rest of the broth in.
Now for the veggies. I added what veggies I had (any number of veggies would work). I added 2 large carrots (sliced medium thick), celery (sliced pretty chunky - and you can also add the celery leaves...they add flavor), and a crown of brocolli (cut up into large bites). At this point, you should turn the heat up to high to heat up the liquid. I decided at this point that I should add some sort of grain or pasta, so I poured in a little orzo (about 1/3 cup, I think). Remember, orzo is pasta and it expands, so you don't need a ton of it. You're not making an "orzo dish". You just want a bit of pasta in your soup to add texture and substance. I also didn't feel like I had enough liquid in the pot, so I added about 2 or 3 cups of water. Stir as needed to mix up all the ingredients. You should be over high heat at this point to get the liquids hot again.
Flavoring - it's totally up to your taste, but I added some garlic salt, the crumbs on the bottom of my "Bay Leaf" spice jar, dried parsley, salt, pepper, seasoning salt, and a tiny bit of Worchestershire sauce (random, I know - it just struck me as tasty). And, I had some fresh cilantro that I wanted to use up as well, so I threw in about 20 to 30 whole cilantro leaves. Once the mixture boiled, I turned the heat back down to low and put a lid on the pot. I let it simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes.
To serve, you can grate fresh parmesan or other cheese over the top. I also threw some of the fresh cilantro on top. Yummm!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Roasting chicken, making gravy and the virtues of Jon's Market
Sorry it's been a while, folks. THAT is what happens when you have to go work the 9 to 5. I did a 3 week stint in an office, to help pay the bills. But now I am free once again, and I'm back to cooking and baking. I did the usual weekly bran muffin thing, which is always yummy and totally convenient (I freeze most of them and just take one out the night before I think we'll eat it.) And, last night I roasted a chicken. Sounds not so exciting, but I NEVER do that. I just don't, for whatever reason. But this week, I saw a great deal on whole Foster Farms chickens at Jon's market (I got mine for $3.50 - ridiculous). Anyway, it was good, but the lessons learned from that were:
#1, roasting a chicken is really not worth the trouble (seasoning and generally handling a raw bird). Especially not worth it when you consider that you can get a great cooked chicken at Costco for about 5 or 6 dollars. There's not really that much good, edible meat on a small bird, so why go to the trouble? And the clean up is a lot, too. Anyhow, it was tasty, but not really worth it.
#2, don't trust the cooking times on recipes when it comes to whole birds. It took me an hour longer than the recipe called for (at 75 degrees HIGHER than the recipe called for - it wanted 325, but I knew it would probably take 375 or 400 - and it STILL took a lot longer).
#3, if you choose to put brocolli in with your roasting bird....don't. For whatever reason, it just dries out and gets crispy. The celery, onion and carrot were GREAT - soft and tender, but the brocolli didn't really work that way. I guess it would have been better just to steam some brocolli on the side.
On the bright side, the meal was pretty tasty and my gravy turned out FANTASTIC! It was really easy and for the first time, I feel like I got the right directions and it worked great. Here's the scoop for gravy...
1. Place the roasting pan with the drippings on the stovetop. don't just take the drippings out - the stuff that's stuck to the bottom of the pan is what makes the gravy taste really yummy. Pour in a little chicken stock (or if there's plenty of drippings in there already, don't worry about adding liquid. Stir it while it's heating and make sure to gently scrape up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan (be careful when using metal utensils - make sure your roasting pan can handle it.
2. While that's gently heating, in a separate saucepan, melt some butter (a couple of tablespoons - more if you're making a huge turkey or something) and add some flour (2 or 3 tablespoons - it's loose). Mix the flour and butter to get a rue and heat it over medium heat until the butter/flour mixture browns a bit (3 minutes or so) - stirring often to prevent burning. Gradually add the sauce mixture from the roasting pan to the flour mixture, stirring constantly. It should thicken rather quickly. Stir until it thickens to your liking. Season with salt and pepper to taste and VOILA! Gravy.
An alternative to plain chicken stock...I actually boiled the giblets in chicken stock (with onions, celery, salt and pepper) for about an hour (all except the liver), then added the liver and boiled another 20 minutes or so. I then strained that mixture so only the broth was left. That's what I used to heat up and loosen the bits on the bottom of the roasting pan. Yummy - and not a bit ...Giblet-y . It's just a flavoring thing. Makes the broth savory.
One last thing I must mention. If you haven't been already (this is for LA locals only) - you must go to Jon's Market. They have the best prices on produce. It's ridiculous, really. My receipt read like this....Onions, 20 cents - garlic, 10 cents - 2 red bell peppers, $1.00 - celery, 50 cents - cilantro - 50 cents. Persimmons were on sale - 2 pounds for $100. I got a giant bag of persimmons for $1.00. They're like $1.50 per pound at the store (when they're on SALE). I usually stay away from the meat section (the meat's fine, but the other things they sell freak me out - like chicken feet and intestines and stuff) - shudder. This time, however, I ventured over there and found some good looking meat (and chicken), at really excellent prices. And their other products (every day household things, soft drinks, etc) - are not very cheap, so don't bother. Also, their spices are super cheap - great place to go for spices.
One last note for you - I used my new tortilla press to make corn tortillas. I am VERY EXCITED! It makes the whole process super easy and fun. And my tortillas look perfect. Yay for the tortilla press! (and I made some simple chicken enchiladas with the leftover chicken - best EVER!)
Later!
#1, roasting a chicken is really not worth the trouble (seasoning and generally handling a raw bird). Especially not worth it when you consider that you can get a great cooked chicken at Costco for about 5 or 6 dollars. There's not really that much good, edible meat on a small bird, so why go to the trouble? And the clean up is a lot, too. Anyhow, it was tasty, but not really worth it.
#2, don't trust the cooking times on recipes when it comes to whole birds. It took me an hour longer than the recipe called for (at 75 degrees HIGHER than the recipe called for - it wanted 325, but I knew it would probably take 375 or 400 - and it STILL took a lot longer).
#3, if you choose to put brocolli in with your roasting bird....don't. For whatever reason, it just dries out and gets crispy. The celery, onion and carrot were GREAT - soft and tender, but the brocolli didn't really work that way. I guess it would have been better just to steam some brocolli on the side.
On the bright side, the meal was pretty tasty and my gravy turned out FANTASTIC! It was really easy and for the first time, I feel like I got the right directions and it worked great. Here's the scoop for gravy...
1. Place the roasting pan with the drippings on the stovetop. don't just take the drippings out - the stuff that's stuck to the bottom of the pan is what makes the gravy taste really yummy. Pour in a little chicken stock (or if there's plenty of drippings in there already, don't worry about adding liquid. Stir it while it's heating and make sure to gently scrape up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan (be careful when using metal utensils - make sure your roasting pan can handle it.
2. While that's gently heating, in a separate saucepan, melt some butter (a couple of tablespoons - more if you're making a huge turkey or something) and add some flour (2 or 3 tablespoons - it's loose). Mix the flour and butter to get a rue and heat it over medium heat until the butter/flour mixture browns a bit (3 minutes or so) - stirring often to prevent burning. Gradually add the sauce mixture from the roasting pan to the flour mixture, stirring constantly. It should thicken rather quickly. Stir until it thickens to your liking. Season with salt and pepper to taste and VOILA! Gravy.
An alternative to plain chicken stock...I actually boiled the giblets in chicken stock (with onions, celery, salt and pepper) for about an hour (all except the liver), then added the liver and boiled another 20 minutes or so. I then strained that mixture so only the broth was left. That's what I used to heat up and loosen the bits on the bottom of the roasting pan. Yummy - and not a bit ...Giblet-y . It's just a flavoring thing. Makes the broth savory.
One last thing I must mention. If you haven't been already (this is for LA locals only) - you must go to Jon's Market. They have the best prices on produce. It's ridiculous, really. My receipt read like this....Onions, 20 cents - garlic, 10 cents - 2 red bell peppers, $1.00 - celery, 50 cents - cilantro - 50 cents. Persimmons were on sale - 2 pounds for $100. I got a giant bag of persimmons for $1.00. They're like $1.50 per pound at the store (when they're on SALE). I usually stay away from the meat section (the meat's fine, but the other things they sell freak me out - like chicken feet and intestines and stuff) - shudder. This time, however, I ventured over there and found some good looking meat (and chicken), at really excellent prices. And their other products (every day household things, soft drinks, etc) - are not very cheap, so don't bother. Also, their spices are super cheap - great place to go for spices.
One last note for you - I used my new tortilla press to make corn tortillas. I am VERY EXCITED! It makes the whole process super easy and fun. And my tortillas look perfect. Yay for the tortilla press! (and I made some simple chicken enchiladas with the leftover chicken - best EVER!)
Later!
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