I've always loved soups. Oddly enough, chicken noodle soup was never at the top of my "fave soups" list until I tasted this one. It was originally my sister's recipe. I've tinkered with it a bit to get this version. Soups can get away with being pretty loosey-goosey with amounts, so these are approximate.
1/2 onion, chopped (or 1 small)
1 clove garlic, finely minced
3 stalks celery, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
Saute the above in some olive oil. Use enough to cover the bottom of the pan and then a bit more...you'll be making a roux in a bit. You can also add in any other fresh veggies you'd like, adjusting the amount of oil needed. My sister usually adds in fresh zucchini, and she also uses more garlic. You can also season the veggies with some black pepper. When all the veggies are soft, sprinkle in some flour. I usually use a heaping tablespoon...you really don't need a bunch of flour, you want the roux base to just come together...the remaining ingredients will help thicken things up. Then pour in 1 quart of chicken stock and about a pound of cooked and shredded/cubed chicken. I generally use poached chicken breast. I did not save the poaching water but if I had I would have used it. If you want to add any frozen veggies this is the time to add that as well...I added peas this time around. Stir up and let the soup come up to a boil. When it does, turn off the stove. Add about 8 oz. of noodles...egg noodles are probably best, but anything that's not a long noodle like spaghetti will work. Stir in about 1/2 c of heavy cream. Once the cream has distributed throughout the soup take the soup pot completely off the heat and cover. The noodles will cook up just fine. In fact, I usually find that the noodles absorb too much water, and I end up adding more chicken stock after the soup has cooled. Or you can saute the noodles up separately in a bit of oil before adding them to the soup to help curb the water absorption...but sometimes the soup gets too greasy if too much oil clings to the noodles when you add them to the soup.
My sister uses more flour in the beginning to make the roux and less heavy cream. Her soup comes out a bit more stew-y.
All soups freeze well, but this one seems to freeze exceptionally well. It doesn't get overly watery like some thawed soups do, so I always cook up at least a double batch and freeze half of it for later.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
This is my MIL's recipe, and it really is awesome! This makes a side dish, sized-dish,(say that 10 times fast) but I almost always double it to fill a 9 x 13 pan as a main dish. You can add anything you like to it like ham, cut up broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
Baked macaroni and cheese
1 - 8 oz. package of elbow macaroni (or you favorite shape, shells or wheels work nicely too)
4 T butter or margarine
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 small onion, minced
1 T all-purpose flour
1 teas. salt
1/4 teas. dry mustard
dash pepper
1 1/2 cups milk (I use skim, but any kind is fine)
1 - 4 oz packages of shredded cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1) Cook macaroni as on the label, drain. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 2-quart casserole. In a small saucepan over medium heat melt 2 T butter, add bread crumbs, toss to coat, set aside.
2) Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt remaining 2 T butter, add onion, and cook until tender about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, mustard and pepper until blended. Slowly stir in milk, cook until smooth and slightly thickened. Remove from heat , stir in cheese until melted.
3) Place drained macaroni in casserole. Pour cheese mixture over macaroni. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top.
4) Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and bread crumbs are golden.
Some notes: The crumbs on top are totally optional. I usually don't bother with them, although I have had fantastic results substituting French's fried onions (the ones you put on top of green bean casserole). When I double the recipe, I don't double the onion, because I'm not a huge onion fan, but don't leave it out, it truly is the secret ingredient. Also, about the onion, you could replace some of the butter with oil if you wanted, but don't replace it all, it is what helps the onion get really sweet. Also, cook the onion slowly so it doesn't brown, but a long time, so it gets really soft and sweet. I find that the roux (butter & flour mixture) sometimes seems not quite thick enough as written, so I frequently add an additional tablespoon or two of flour. Also, really let the milk mixture thicken over a low heat and be sure to turn off the heat when you add the cheese. If the sauce gets too hot after the cheese goes in, it will separate and you'll wind up with a stringy, greasy mess. (I've learned this from experience, and it still took several "lessons" to really learn it!) One last thing, sometimes when my husband makes it, he substitutes chili powder for the dry mustard and it gives it a nice, but subtle kick.
Baked macaroni and cheese
1 - 8 oz. package of elbow macaroni (or you favorite shape, shells or wheels work nicely too)
4 T butter or margarine
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 small onion, minced
1 T all-purpose flour
1 teas. salt
1/4 teas. dry mustard
dash pepper
1 1/2 cups milk (I use skim, but any kind is fine)
1 - 4 oz packages of shredded cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1) Cook macaroni as on the label, drain. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 2-quart casserole. In a small saucepan over medium heat melt 2 T butter, add bread crumbs, toss to coat, set aside.
2) Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt remaining 2 T butter, add onion, and cook until tender about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, mustard and pepper until blended. Slowly stir in milk, cook until smooth and slightly thickened. Remove from heat , stir in cheese until melted.
3) Place drained macaroni in casserole. Pour cheese mixture over macaroni. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top.
4) Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and bread crumbs are golden.
Some notes: The crumbs on top are totally optional. I usually don't bother with them, although I have had fantastic results substituting French's fried onions (the ones you put on top of green bean casserole). When I double the recipe, I don't double the onion, because I'm not a huge onion fan, but don't leave it out, it truly is the secret ingredient. Also, about the onion, you could replace some of the butter with oil if you wanted, but don't replace it all, it is what helps the onion get really sweet. Also, cook the onion slowly so it doesn't brown, but a long time, so it gets really soft and sweet. I find that the roux (butter & flour mixture) sometimes seems not quite thick enough as written, so I frequently add an additional tablespoon or two of flour. Also, really let the milk mixture thicken over a low heat and be sure to turn off the heat when you add the cheese. If the sauce gets too hot after the cheese goes in, it will separate and you'll wind up with a stringy, greasy mess. (I've learned this from experience, and it still took several "lessons" to really learn it!) One last thing, sometimes when my husband makes it, he substitutes chili powder for the dry mustard and it gives it a nice, but subtle kick.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Bruschetta Chicken Bake
This is from Kraft Food and Family magazine...I'm sure it's also available on their website as well.
Serves 6
Oven 400
1 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pckg. (6 oz) chicken stuffing mix
1/2 c water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
Place tomatoes with liquid in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, water, and garlic; stir just until stuffing is moistened, set aside. Place chicken in 13 x 9 baking dish. Sprinkle with basil and cheese. Top with stuffing mixture. Bake 30 mins. or until chicken is cooked through.
Normally I make this dish in the winter, when stuffing mix is uber cheap and I've got a stockpile on hand. This time I decided to make my own stuffing mix. I used 3 slices of wheat bread for each dish. I also added some chicken bullion, Italian seasoning, and a citrus-basil rub I had on hand. I discovered too late that the bread didn't dry out as much as I had hoped, so I used about half as much water as the recipe indicated. I omitted the dried basil leaves as well. I also used closer to 1 1/3 cups of shredded cheese.
To go with the dish, since I already had my oven going, I made garlic-roasted broccoli. It's similar to the roasted zucchini I made for our first dinner swap...mix the broccoli with some garlic, olive oil, and salt, spread it on a baking dish and pop it in the oven with the chicken. It takes about 5 minutes to prep and about 20-25 minutes to cook, so I did the broccoli after I put the chicken in the oven and it was all ready at the same time.
Serves 6
Oven 400
1 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pckg. (6 oz) chicken stuffing mix
1/2 c water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs. chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
Place tomatoes with liquid in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix, water, and garlic; stir just until stuffing is moistened, set aside. Place chicken in 13 x 9 baking dish. Sprinkle with basil and cheese. Top with stuffing mixture. Bake 30 mins. or until chicken is cooked through.
Normally I make this dish in the winter, when stuffing mix is uber cheap and I've got a stockpile on hand. This time I decided to make my own stuffing mix. I used 3 slices of wheat bread for each dish. I also added some chicken bullion, Italian seasoning, and a citrus-basil rub I had on hand. I discovered too late that the bread didn't dry out as much as I had hoped, so I used about half as much water as the recipe indicated. I omitted the dried basil leaves as well. I also used closer to 1 1/3 cups of shredded cheese.
To go with the dish, since I already had my oven going, I made garlic-roasted broccoli. It's similar to the roasted zucchini I made for our first dinner swap...mix the broccoli with some garlic, olive oil, and salt, spread it on a baking dish and pop it in the oven with the chicken. It takes about 5 minutes to prep and about 20-25 minutes to cook, so I did the broccoli after I put the chicken in the oven and it was all ready at the same time.
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