Snow Day Salad

Yesterday we got about 5 inches of unexpected snow, so I am staying in for the weekend.  I rummaged around the kitchen today and put together a tasty salad for brunch.

Here's what went in the bowl:

A bag of shredded lettuce

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks

1/2 of a small yellow onion, diced

4 oz cup of mandarin oranges, drained (reserve juice for dressing)

1/2 chicken breast, chopped

handful dry roasted almonds, crushed with my coffee cup

1 package ramen noodles, crumbled and toasted in a cast iron skillet coated with olive oil

Dressing - whisk together:

2 T juice from mandarin oranges

drizzle of olive oil

drizzle of balsomic vinegar

about half of the contents of  the ramen noodle seasoning packet

fresh ground pepper

The chicken came from the frozen leftovers of the chicken I roasted a couple of weeks ago.  Let me just say I love that vacuum sealer that I bought myself for Christmas - the chicken tasted every bit as juicy and flavorful as it did the night I made it.

Reuben Soup!

A week or so ago, I visited our new Earthfare store.   I happened by their display of store-made soups, and picked up a container of Reuben Soup.  I had never heard of such a thing, but since I love a good reuben sammie, I figured I might like it.  And I did!  So, I started googling for a recipe.

None of the recipes I found sounded much like what I had eaten, so I just forgot about trying to make some.  Then one evening this week, I pulled out the recipe book for my Vitamix mixer, and lo and behold, there was a recipe for Reuben Soup that sounded like it would taste good.

When I first saw a guy at Sam's Club demo-ing a Vitamix, I was amazed that you could actually make hot soup right in the mixer.  It processes at such a high speed that it really heats up the food if it runs at a high speed for about 5 minutes - hot enough that steam boils out of the top!  I've had the mixer for nearly a year, but this is the first time that I attempted soup - but I tell you, it certainly won't be the last.

Here's how you do it (my adaptation of the recipe):

Soup base - Put the following in the blender container in this order:
2 small to medium cooked potatoes, chopped with skin
2 cups skim milk
1/2 t celery salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
ground pepper to taste

Turn the vitamix on at level 1 variable speed, and immediately increase to level 10, then to high.  Run 5 minutes, or until steam is rising out of the container.

While the blender is running, gather the following:

4 oz Swiss cheese, cut into chunks
1 T Thousand Island dressing
1 T sweet relish
1/2 cup sauerkraut
1/2 t caraway seeds
4 oz corned beef

Lower the speed back to variable 5, and drop in the swiss cheese.  Run for about 30 seconds.  Add the remaining ingredients, and run for about 10 more seconds until the meat is chopped.

This soup was so creamy and flavorful!  I'm already looking forward to the forecasted wintery mess this weekend when this soup will be just the ticket!!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I had three chicken breasts which really needed to be cooked today.  So I rummaged around a bit and found some dry roasted almonds, blue cheese crumbles and a gala apple.  I crushed the almonds and cut up the apple.  Combined these with a couple of ounces of the blue cheese crumbles and a squirt of canola mayo.

I sliced the breasts to make a little pocket and liberally stuffed the mixture in.  I crowded the three stuffed breasts into a small baking pan and baked at 350 until the thermometer indicated they reached an internal temp of 170 (about 40 minutes).  Very tasty dinner and lunch tomorrow, and one more serving to freeze for another day.

I also finished off the last of the tomato sauce with some left over pasta in the fridge.  Ohmigosh that sauce was even better today.  Next time I am at the grocery I am stocking up on cans of tomatoes.

Marcella Hazan's Tomato and Butter Sauce

This recipe has been showing up on food blogs lately, and comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

It is so simple - a large can of good quality whole tomatoes, butter (recipe calls for 5 tablespoons, I used about 3), and an onion.  Peel the onion and cut it in half.  No need to chop it up, because once the sauce has finished simmering, you fish the onion out and throw it away.  For real.

Pour the tomatoes and juices into a saucepan.  Add the butter and onion halves.  Bring the mixture to a strong simmer, then reduce heat and let the mixture simmer for 45 minutes.  Stir occasionally, breaking up the tomatoes pressing them with a spoon against the side of the pan.

Season to taste - I added a bit of sugar and salt.  Yum yum yummy sauce.  I nibbled on it right out of the pan.

Great over pasta, but I used it as pizza sauce.  I had a King Arthur Pizza Crust Mix in the cabinet.  It mixes up so quick using the dough hook and KitchenAid stand mixer.  I had canadian bacon in the freezer and a green bell pepper and mushrooms in the fridge.  Unfortunately, no mozzarella, but I did pick up a bag of shredded parmesan the other day.  It all came together quickly and tasted great.  I vacuum sealed the leftovers and froze for another day.

Back on the Wagon

Ok - I fell off for a few days - back into bad habits of skipping breakfast and lunch and then opting for chinese carryout.  I did some grocery shopping this weekend and have to get the cooking thing going again or waste good food.

This morning I got things going by starting Southwestern Pulled Brisket in the slow cooker.   I love my Fagor - I used the browning cycle to sear the brisket, then moved it to a plate while I cooked the onions and garlic and made the sauce.  I used Rotel instead of canned tomatoes, and probably should have skipped the chipotle chile - there was definitely a strong pepper kick going on.

Tonight I strained the sauce and then mixed some back in to the pulled meat.  I picked up some tortillas and jalopeno slaw at the grocery today and enjoyed soft tacos for dinner and looking forward to seconds tomorrow.

Chicken Tetrazzini

One more meal of roast chicken and I am done!  Tonight I melted some butter in my stir fry pan.  I diced a bit of onion and sliced a package of mushrooms and cooked them down a bit.  Sprinkled the everything with about a tablespoon of flour and cooked a bit longer.  Added some half and half and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Added the diced chicken and cooked until heated through.  I served it over the pasta left over from last week's beef stew, topped with grated parmesean.

Tasty, but ready to be done with chicken for a bit.  Tomorrow night I think I will grill pork chops.  I picked up sweet potatoes to bake.  I'll fix a salad or maybe steam broccoli or asparagras to accompany.

So - I had dinner out one night this week and lunch out today.  I call that a success!

Never buy rotisserie chicken again

There is no other food as perfect as roasted chicken.  I have had issues with roasting chicken before - just couldn't get it right.  Then I found this posting by Thomas Keller, and the heavens opened up and I learned the secret of perfect roasted chicken.  Hot oven, dry bird, lots of salt and pepper.  My life was changed.

I vacuum sealed half the bird for later, and made a big salad of romaine, mandarin oranges, red onions, and chicken topped with a vinegarette for lunch.  For dinner I cooked some white beans and made a white chicken chili.