Soup: Split Pea With Chicken

There comes a time, usually in the summer, when the freezer becomes overrun with chicken bodies. That time was today.

And nothing in the fridge for lunch. But I've got a package of split peas in the cupboard. Who cares if it's 90 degrees outside? Let's make soup!

Three chicken bodies and 6-9 cups of water, depending on how thick you want your soup. Simmer for an hour. Cool for a few minutes, then pick some chicken off the bones. [update: I tried 6 cups, I think 7 might be better]

Chopped/sauteed about a half onion from the fridge's veggie drawer in a couple TBS of buttery.

Add back the broth and chicken, plus the split peas. Bring back to a boil, simmer for an hour or so. [update: I tried to get away with simmering for just 30 minutes, but I think at least 40-45 might be needed]

Salt and pepper to taste.

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I haven't made this yet, but I don't want to lose it

https://gimmedelicious.com/2018/03/16/the-best-homemade-taco-seasoning/

How to Cook Chicken

This one, too.

375 degrees for 20 minutes, was it?

WIP: I'll note more detail next time.

How to Cook Salmon

I'm going to forget if I don't write this down.

- 1 lb salmon
- couple TBS oil
- Fish seasoning (salt, etc)

425 deg, 25 min

WIP: I'll write down more about this when I get a chance

My Very Own Burrito Recipe

I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who first said, "eat a burrito a day."

His recipe has been lost to the fog of time, but here's one I think he would like:

Makes two good-sized burritos

Ingredients

• 1/4 lb., your choice of meat, cooked (alternatively 1/2 cup of cooked beans)
• 1/2 cup, cooked rice
• 1/2 cup, grated cheese - I used cheddar
• 1/4 cup, salsa
• two 10-inch flour (or gluten-free) tortillas

Steps

• Mix it all up (everything but the tortillas, of course) in a microwave-safe dish (or fire-safe, if you're into that kind of thing).
• Heat (microwave, fire, etc) the mixture until the cheese is melted
• Give it all a good stir
• Divide the melty mixture between the two tortillas, flattening and shaping it so as to create proper burrito-shaped innards
• Fold the two sides toward the middle, then the near end over the center; finally flop the middle part onto the other end of the tortilla - please don't make me draw a diagram

Garnish the tortilla with a little more cheese, which then melt


Serve with a little more salsa, some Spanish rice, maybe some refried beans.

And enjoy!

Onion Dip Experiment #2

It's time to try the onion dip recipe again.

Here are my notes from last time.

Here's what I'm doing this time...

Ingredients

• 2-3 small-medium onions (2 cups finely chopped)
• 2 TBS unsalted butter
• 3/4 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 cups, plain yogurt
• 2 TBS chives

Directions

Chop the onions finely. Try not to cry. They're just onions.

Melt the butter. Add the onions and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook until golden brown. You'll know they're golden brown when a spouse or other responsible adult tells you you're golden brown. It should take about 30-35 minutes.

Put the cooked onions in a tightly covered dish and refrigerate until cool. While you wait, you can tweet or write a blog post about the experience.

Once the onions are cool, mix them in a medium bowl with the yogurt, 1/4 tsp salt, the pepper, and the chives.

I know I said I was going to try adding cayenne pepper. We'll see about that, and I'll let you know. Nah, I think it's perfect as-is.

So as promised, the sodium content. The TOTAL sodium in the whole recipe is just about 1000 mg:

• onions: 8 mg
• unsalted butter: 0 mg
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt: 840 mg
• pepper: <1 mg
• yogurt: 150 mg
• chives: 0 mg

So one eighth of the recipe (about 1/4 cup) would have about 120 mg of sodium.

Let's compare this with Lipton's onion soup mix. The mix itself has 610 mg. The sour cream adds another 40-something.

This recipe reduces the sodium by more than 80%. That's quite a savings!!

Can we get that number up to 96%? Stay tuned, I'll try that in a couple weeks!

Sausage Bread

Originally from an old friend of the family.

Sausage Bread

• 1 box of hot roll mix
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1/4 tsp Tabasco
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 lb sausage, hot or sweet

Mix dough according to directions on box. Let rise 45 min. Roll out 1/4" thick oval. Cook onions wish sausage (not brown). Drain excess fat. Add all other ingredients. Stir until cheese has melted. Let cool. Don't spread to edges. Roll up and pinch ends together. Shape into crescent. Place on greased cookie sheet (with edges). Bake 20 min at 400 degrees until brown and toothpick comes out fairly clean.

I'm going to try and make this with gluten free bread dough sometime soon. I'll report back.

Italian Wedding Soup

I found this great recipe for Italian Wedding Soup.

I used a one-pound box of baby spinach for the greens.

Instead of the three kinds of meat, I just used a pound of ground turkey.

Gillian's (unseasoned) gluten free bread crumbs worked very nicely.

I made the meatballs smaller - about 3/4 inch - which I find much nicer for soup.

And when you put them into the broth, it's a good idea to count them, so you know just how many you have if you're divvying them up for a large crowd. This batch served thirteen people as a soup course with a couple cups left over.

The spinach and puffed-up meatballs insisted on floating to the top, so swirling in the egg and cheese mixture was a bit difficult. I actually removed a bunch of it to perform this step!

Also worth noting: The meatball parsley should be chopped finely. And the recipe calls for a teaspoon of minced garlic - two cloves in the garlic press was just the right amount.

Garnish means "don't eat me" in Italian. Next time I'd use whole leaves of parsley and more coarsely grated cheese. (yes, eat the cheese)

Here's a pantry/fridge/freezer/shopping list for your convenience:

3 quarts homemade chicken stock (I might have used four? sorry, not sure)
1 lb. ground turkey
1 cup unseasoned (gluten free for my needs) bread crumbs
1/8 lb. Parmigiano-Reggiano (sorry, not sure how much I actually used)
3 large eggs
a medium onion
a bunch of fresh parsley
two cloves of garlic
kosher salt
black pepper grinder

Onion Dip Experiment #1

I love onion dip. Who doesn't? People on low-sodium diets, that's who. And besides, who wants all the crap that's in those processed soup packages? Not me, thanks!

So I went looking for an onion soup recipe to play with, and I found this one. My plan was to make it the first time exactly as written, but since I had some sour cream left over from Hanukkah, I combined that with some plain yogurt (Siggi's). And instead of unsalted butter and salt, I used the Land O' Lakes spread we had in the fridge. The rest of the salt I figured I would leave out.

The mixture is way too thick for my taste, so I think instead of the cream cheese, I'll stick with all yogurt next time - Greek or Icelandic.

My dip seemed a little bland, so I added some garlic powder. I guess I wish I'd read the original recipe's comments section, because somebody suggested adding a little cayenne pepper. That seems like a better idea.

Another commenter suggested getting a better texture by putting the cooked onions through a food processor.  That seems like a lot of work, so I think next time I'll chop the onions instead of just slicing them before cooking them.

Now as for the salt, the recipe calls for cooking with a half teaspoon of salt, which I left out, though I did use a buttery spread containing about 25 mg of sodium per serving of dip. The additional quarter teaspoon of salt the recipe calls for only adds another 30 mg of sodium per serving, so I think next time, I'll leave it in. The overall sodium savings compared with processed soup mix has to be at least 500 mg. Once I have the recipe perfected the way I like it, I'll do that math.

One more thing, I put a small container in the freezer. I'll thaw it out next week and see if it's any good. Update: I froze a 5 oz yogurt container of the original unsalted recipe. It was in there for about a week and then I put it in the refrigerator for about a day to thaw. The texture was just as it was, still too thick for my taste. And taste, just the same. I would have added some cayenne, but dang it, there wasn't any in the cupboard. That will have to wait for experiment #2.

UPDATE: read all about Onion Dip Experiment #2!

Soup: Split Pea with Turkey

Thanksgiving took place under my roof, so naturally I took custody of the turkey carcass - with an eye toward soup, of course! On the other hand, I've had a hankering for split pea soup, but preferring to avoid all the sodium that ham is full of.

Enter this recipe. I used turkey broth instead of chicken. And instead of ham, I used the turkey that boiled off the bones during the broth-making. And I left out the salt (and forgot about the pepper).

It's really good!

There's still plenty of broth left over, some of which will turn into Sherry Noodle Soup. But I also plan to make a batch (or half batch) of split pea with a cup of water swapped out for sherry. UPDATE: I swapped 1/2 cup water for sherry, which really helps when you cook without salt. It was a great addition!

Sherry Noodle Soup (v2!)

Back in the day, you could find my recipe for Sherry Noodle Soup on dave-net.com. Well that old domain is long gone. And sadly, I don't think you can even find it on The Wayback Machine!

But I found it on a hard drive and decided to cook up a batch. But nah, that recipe needed a little tweak here and there. So without further ado, here's version two...

Sherry Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• A couple chicken bodies or one turkey frame, with a little meat left on (you'll want about two cups of meat off the bones later)
• 3 quarts, water
• 1 medium-large onion (half quartered, half chopped)
• 2 tsp, salt (if you really must)
• 1 cup, dry sherry
• 1½ tsp, oregano
• 1 tsp, thyme
• 1/8 tsp, ground black pepper
• 2 cups, chopped carrots
• 2 cups, chopped celery
• 2 cups, raw mushrooms (optional)
• 1 lb, cooked pasta (or dry + ??? cups, water TBD)

Combine meaty bones, water, half of the onion (quartered) in a large pot. Bring to boil and then simmer for an hour or so.

Remove everything from the broth. Salvage whatever meat you can from the bones. Discard the bones and the soggy onion and the other yucky stuff. Set aside two cups of meat for later. The rest will make a nice sandwich! you can give to your dog! ONLY GIVE MEAT TO YOUR DOG IF YOU LEAVE OUT THE ONION.

Strain the broth. If you like, you can let it cool and skim the fat off the top.

Combine the broth with the meat and the rest of the raw onion (chopped) and everything else except for the pasta, which you should save for later. Bring it all to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the pasta (cooked or dry plus ??? cups of water) and simmer for another ten minutes or so.

Enjoy!!

Update (12/11/18): I made this with mushrooms for the first time the other day, and I really liked how it turned out!

Macaroni and Cheese

Here's my very special recipe for macaroni and cheese. I keep mistyping macarone instead of macaroni. What's up with that?

Anyway, here's what you need:

• some cooked macaroni -- any leftover pasta will do
• a slice of American cheese, enough to cover your macaroni

And here are the so-called cooking instructions:

1. Put the pasta in a microwave-safe bowl. Plastic = fail.
2. Add the cheese on top.
3. Place the bowl in the microwave and press the "minute" button. I almost forgot to put "minute" in quotes and then you would have been looking for a really tiny button. But I digress.
4. Stir until the pasta is all cheesy. If the pasta isn't cheesy enough, use more cheese next time. Or less pasta. I really can't tell you how to live your life.

Enjoy!