Beef Barley Tomato Soup/Stew

Since I’ve been cooking, I’ve realized my cooking style leans more towards the “mix it and leave it” mentality.  Meaning that I like to throw things together, but then leave it to stew/bake/cook.  I don’t like high maintenance cooking that require a lot of time. 

With that being said, here’s my 4 person recipe for beef barley tomato soup/stew.  The reason for the stew part at the end?  If you don’t use all 4 portions right away, then the barley will “drink up” all the tomato juice and water which means there won’t be a lot of liquid.   

• 1 lb of Angus beef chuck
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1-2 shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 can (28oz) of chopped diced tomatoes, don’t drain!
• 2 cup of water
• 1 TBSP beef bouillon (or 2 cubes)
• 2-3 Bay leaves
• 1 TBSP Italian Seasonings
• 1 cup of uncooked barley
• Salt & pepper

Brown the beef in a sauce pan with2 tsp olive oil and on high heat.  You want to brown the meat, not cook it.   Once the meat is brown, set aside.

Now using the same pan, reduce the heat to medium and add a little more olive oil (about 1 tsp-2 tsp).  Add the shallots and garlic until brown.  Next add the tomatoes, water, beef bouillon, Bay leaves, Italian Seasonings, and barley. 

Return to the meat that’s cooled down and chop into bite-sized chunks.  Add to the soup. 

Let it cook for at least 1 hour on low, but stir occasionally.  Don’t let it boil. 

 

It has a nice tomato-beef flavor that doesn’t overwhelm the senses with spices and it’s an easy soup to make!

 

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

A friend was raving about Daily Candy’s recipe they sent out in December from 1789 pastry chef Travis Olson.  In case you didn’t get the email, here’s the recipe that serves 8-10.

It is easy to make, but make sure to follow the directions!  There are a lot more directions than I usually care to follow, but it was worth it.  The result?  Wow.  It really was amazing.  It’s sweet, rich, and full of pumpkin and spice flavors.  It’d be perfect topped with ice cream or whipped cream. 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf challah bread, with crusts discarded (I made my own challah bread, but definitely can use store-bought!)
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1½ tsp. ground ginger
• ½ tsp. ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. ground cloves
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1½ cups pumpkin puree
• 1 c. light brown sugar
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 c. heavy cream
• 1 c. whole milk (I used 2% and it worked, but it wasn’t as creamy as I’m sure it would have been if I used whole)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Cut bread into ½-inch cubes.

• Combine the spices in a small bowl and then evenly sprinkle the mixture over the bread cubes.

• Toss the seasoned bread cubes with butter and then spread the cubes on a sheet pan and toast in the oven for about twelve minutes, until just golden.

• Reduce heat to 325° and place an empty two-quart baking dish inside to warm.
  
• Add the granulated sugar to a small sauce pot. Whisk in about half of a cup of water until it makes a pourable consistency. Boil without stirring until the mixture turns amber, about twelve minutes.

• Remove the warmed dish from the oven and coat the bottom with a thin layer of the caramel mixture. (There may be leftover caramel, which you can save and use as ice cream topping.)
  
• For the custard, add the pumpkin to a mixing bowl and whisk in the remaining ingredients, one at a time in the order listed.

• Add the toasted bread to the baking dish and pour the custard on top. Press down on the bread (yes, with your hands) to help it soak up the custard like a sponge, cover, and let sit up to an hour.

 

• Return the dish to the oven at 325° and bake until puffy and no liquid appears when pressed, about 45 minutes.

   

• Enjoy warm with ice cream.

 

Authentic Challah Bread

I found this recipe in Jewish Women’s magazine for authentic challah bread.  You can make it using your bread machine or by hand — either way, it’s super easy! 

This recipe made two loaves and I used them to make tomorrow’s recipe for pumpkin bread pudding.  Just wait, you’ll see that recipe, well, tomorrow.

Unlike my previously posted challah bread recipe, this one is going into my book because I know it’s authentic.  The  loaves were sweet and chewy. 

Here are  step-by-step photos:

         

Perfect!

 

White Bean Chicken Chili

Since I am a party of one, I always have a lot of leftover rotisserie  chicken.  I usually make sandwiches with them, but this time, I decided to make some white bean chicken chili.  You could also substitute turkey.

To use up some of my rotisserie chicken, I thought I’d make a super easy white bean chicken chili.

• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 1/2 jalapeno (or a full one if you like it hot!)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1/2 of a green pepper (red, yellow, or orange works too)
• 1/2-1 cup of water — DON’T ADD RIGHT AWAY
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 2-3 bay leaves
• Remaining rotisserie chicken
• 2 regular cans Northern white beans, drained and rinsed 

Put everything except the water, rotisserie chicken, and Northern white beans in a sauce pan (mine is 2.5 quart).  You’ll want to make sure there’s enough liquid so you don’t burn everything, but not too much so that there’s a danger of overflowing.  In mine, I put enough water so it’s about 1″ away from the top. 

Now put the pan on the stove medium/low heat for an hour.  The jalapeno simmering will make the water spicy so be careful and don’t use too much!

Finally, add the rotisserie chicken and Northern white beans.  Let this cook for another 15 minutes. 

Serve with cornbread (my personal favorite).  This makes about 5-6 servings.  It’s so good and healthy!

 

Cayenne Pepper, Thyme and Rosemary Rotissiere Chicken

Rotisserie chicken is the best.  I love it for the winter and heck, it works really nicely for the summer too.   It’s one of those meals that screams “home-y” and who wouldn’t love that?  Vegetarians…OK, good point.

Anyway, I threw together this recipe and baked it.  It was so delicious smelling when it was cooking and even better tasting.  There was a little heat – perfect!

• 1 chicken, rinsed under water and patted dry
• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 2 TBSP fresh Thyme (or 1  1/4 TBSP of dried Thyme)
• 3 TBSP of dried Rosemary, crushed (just use your fingers to break-up and make it aromatic)
• 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper (or more if you like heat!)
• 2 tsp Kosher salt

Mix the Thyme, Rosemary, Cayenne Pepper, and salt together in a bowl.  Now the chicken has been washed and dried, now put the lemon juice over the chicken — including underneath the skin!  Do the same with the spice mixture.   I had a lot of extra Thyme so I put the remaining in the big “cave” of the chicken.  I like to let my chicken marinate for at least an hour,  but it’s just fine if you don’t.

 

Now put the marinated chicken in your rotisserie according to your manufacturer’s directions. 

Once it’s cooked, let the chicken sit and cover with aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes.  This will let the juices sit but also keep the chicken hot. 

   

Serve.  Delicious! 

 

Betty Crocker Coconut Chews

I have a Betty Crocker recipe book from 1982 that my grandma gave to my mother.  It’s so awesome and I love this cookbook.

Anyway, I decided to try some of the recipes from the book, including this one for coconut chews.

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup shortening (half margarine or butter softened)
• 1 1/2 cup of flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 TBSP flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped walnut
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut

Heat oven to 350.  Mix powdered sugar and shortening.  Stir in 1 1/2 cup of flour.  Press in an ungreased 13×9 pan.  Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes.

Mix remaining ingredients.  Spread over baked layer.  Bake for 20 minutes; cool.  Cut into bars about 3×1.  32 cookies. 

   

There is a recipe for a frosting with the chews, but I didn’t make it because the bars were rich enough without.  They are seriously awesome. 

Heads up — for the second baking, you may want to bake the bars only 15-20 minutes.  You’ll need to check it so the ingredients don’t get overbaked.

 

Maraschino Cherry Cake

After I made the dry almond cherry biscotti, I had a jar of maraschino cherry juice left.  Before I threw it away, I thought I’d see if there was a recipe that might use some of it up.

Here’s the recipe I used for maraschino cherry cake.  It was pretty good — sweet (but not too much) and a pleasant cherry flavor. 

   

It would be a great cake for Valentine’s Day!  You could add a cream cheese frosting and red sprinkles!

 

Pumpkin Biscotti

While I made the low fat version of pumpkin biscotti, this recipe for pumpkin biscotti is actually low fat too (and it tastes a lot better).   The spices give the biscotti a good flavor, but next time, I’d add more pureed pumpkin.   The dough was a little sticky, but it was manageable.

I did have to bake them a lot longer than instructed — about 50-60 minutes.  I didn’t want them to turn out the same way the low fat one did with the doughy inside.

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, I used these measurements to make-up my own:

• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp cloves

Will I make these again?  Maybe…I’m not convinced yet either way.  Here are my step-by-step photos:

     

 

Easy and Cheap Wonton Soup

I had bought a package of wonton wrappers at the grocery store, but wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them until I found this very easy and cheap recipe for wonton soup.  According to the Web site, to serve for 4 it costs $3/bowl.  That’s really cheap!

I actually followed the recipe exactly, but instead of using pork, I used ground turkey.  It was equally delicious and lower in fat. 

Here are my photos of the wontons:

     

But here’s the only problem I had — my wontons all stuck together after being cooked.  Since it was just for me and my lunches, it didn’t bother me.  But if you wanted to make them for others, you’ll want to fix that.  How?  Here are some suggestions I’ve found:

• Place cooked wontons into a bowl of cold water
• Place cooked wontons into a bowl with 1/2 tsp of sesame oil and mix or add some olive oil and mix
• Don’t let them touch when cooking and when you lift them out of the pot of boiling stock

Let me know if you try any of these methods and which one works (or doesn’t) for you!

 

Oven Baked (Healthy) Chicken Nuggets/Strips

OK, I love chicken nuggets.  I haven’t had them though in years…maybe even a decade (or longer).   I also like chicken strips, but I find what constitutes strips vary so widely from restaurant to restaurant that it’s no longer worth it to me to order them.   Some places are really fatty, others have no chicken meat, etc — you get the picture.

So I decided to try to make my own.  And I have to tell you, wow.  It was awesome.  Here’s the recipe:

• 1 chicken breast
• 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs
• 1/8 (heaping) tsp of Kosher salt– not too much so it’s 1/4 but you want a bit more than 1/8
• 1/8 tsp of black pepper
• 1 TBSP Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, beaten well
• 2 tsp of half-and-half (or milk)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Cut the chicken nuggets or strips into uniform sizes — this is very important so you can make sure they bake evenly.  The photo below you’ll see the strips on the left and 3 nuggets on the right. 

Put the raw chicken into the milk and egg mixture. 

Then put in the panko mixture with the black pepper, Parmesan cheese,and salt.  You could also add other herbs and spices including cayenne pepper, Italian seasonings, etc. 

Push the coating on the chicken hard so it really sticks.  Also, make sure it’s coated evenly.

I used my convection/toaster oven, but you could do this in your regular oven.  You may need to adjust the temperatures and baking time though.

If you are making chicken strips, turn your toaster oven at 475 for about 30 minutes on the top rack and drizzle a little olive oil over the chicken.  At the 15 minute mark, flip them and drizzle with a little olive oil.  After you’ve flipped them once, pay attention to make sure they’re brown and cooked.  No raw chicken! Then enjoy — they are way better (and healthier) than what you’d get at a fast food joint.

   

If you are making chicken nuggets, same temperature but bake them for about 15-20 minutes on the top rack with the drizzle of olive oil.  At the 8 minute mark, flip and drizzle the other side with olive oil. 

   

 

Orange Crumb Cake

This is a very delicious recipe for orange crumb cake, but make sure to pay attention and save 1/2 cup of the flour, butter, and sugar mixture! 

     

It’s moist and has a nice orange flavor, although it wasn’t as “crumbly” as I’d like.  I think next time I’d add a little more butter to the top. 

Either way, it was excellent for dessert (or breakfast)!

 

Low fat Pumpkin Biscotti

I had extra pumpkin puree and decided to try making this recipe for low fat pumpkin biscotti.  

When I started putting the ingredients together, I was surprised that there was no fat required like butter, oil, or even applesauce.  So my hopes for these biscotti were slim. 

The dough was a little sticky, but not too bad.  You definitely need to bake it a lot longer than the recipe calls for — you’ll see the top part of my dough didn’t cook all the way through at first and that mistake was obvious once I cut them and baked. 

They tasted OK, but I wouldn’t make them again. 

Here are my step-by-step photos:

       

**Update 1/27/09 – I made the “full-fat” version of the pumpkin biscotti and here’s the review.  Still not sure if I’d make either one again…

 

Almond Cherry Biscotti

Well, it doesn’t happen too often, but this recipe for almond cherry biscotti was a total disappointment because I thought it was flavorless and dry.  

   

To try to save it, I dipped half in chocolate which added flavor and did make it much better. 

 

But I definitely wouldn’t make these again.

While I hated them, I did give them to my mom for the holidays.  I wanted to see if she agreed with me.  She said that they were good and very popular with the people in her office.

I still say don’t make these…

 

Bread Machine Basic Pizza Dough

I love thin crust pizza, but I never found a dough that would work for thin crust…until now.  This recipe for pizza dough is one of the best.  There’s no flavor to the crust, but that’s easy to fix if you add a little garlic powder, oregano, etc to the dough.

Once the bread machine was done mixing, I added at least another cup of flour so I could handle the dough.  It was incredibly gooey. 

Then I divided the dough and put one on my pizza stone with cornmeal and the other half on the pizza pan with holes.   There is definitely enough dough for two pizzas! 

   

I put a thin layer of pizza sauce, cheese, turkey pepperoni, leftover cooked ground turkey, and fresh spinach (which I realize now I shouldn’t have used). 

While I always thought my pizza stone was awesome, the pizza pan with holes was way better because the crust was crispy and delicious.  Here are those pizza pictures:

           

Here are the photos when I used the pizza stone:

   

I baked the pizza at 450 for 30-40 minutes.  Yum.

 

Curtis Stone’s Coq au Vin Recipe

After watching Curtis Stone’s Take Home Chef, I always thought his recipes looked delicious.  While I hadn’t made too many of his before, I thought i’d try his recipe for coq au vin. 

In addition to being one of the first recipes I tried of his, I had also never made coq au vin before so it was a new experience.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t the biggest fan.  I had never made it before but thought I’d try to make it.  I don’t know what it was that I didn’t like, but it just didn’t work for me.  Maybe it was that the recipe didn’t call for the chicken to stew slowly all day.  

Here are my step-by-step photos:

           

Either way, I think next time I’m going to try this recipe for the perfect coq au vin.

And as far as Curtis Stone, I’ll stick to his absolutely amazing recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

 

Cream Cheese Brownies

A friend was having a birthday so I figured I’d make something different — and found it in this recipe for cream cheese brownies.

I had never made them before but they were pretty easy.  I just poured 1/2 the chocolate batter and then all of the cream cheese filling and then the remaining chocolate batter and baked.  It probably would have been prettier if I would have done an alternating spoonful of each, but I think these turned out well.

   

To be honest, I did steal a small bite and thought they were pretty good.  The cream cheese filling gave the brownies a rich flavor and smooth texture.  The brownies were extremely moist and delicious.

I would definitely make these again!

 

Oven fried Mozzarella Sticks

Since we’re coming up on Super Bowl Sunday, I thought I’d try to make some “healthy” mozzarella sticks.  If you want the brown color that you get from fried mozzarella sticks, I’d either toast the panko breadcrumbs (no oil) or put 1/4 cup of panko and 1/4 cup of regular breadcrumbs.  You might want to try pretzels (but since I’m not a salt fan, I’d use the salt-free ones)…that might work.

This makes about 9 mozzarella sticks.

• 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning
• 1/8 tsp of Kosher salt 
• 1 egg

Cut the mozzarella into sticks.  I bought a big block of mozzarella and cut them into 1 1/2 inch long logs.  Then I put the logs in the freezer for an hour.

Now preheat the oven to 450.  In a bowl, mix the egg well. 

In a separate bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, and salt.

Take the frozen mozzarella and dip into the egg mixture.  Now dip in the breadcrumb mixture, but make sure you press down hard so it sticks.  Put the cheese stick back in the egg mix and again in the bread crumbs. 

  

Put on an aluminum foil lined pan.  Bake for 8-12 minutes, but make sure to watch at the 8 minute mark so the cheese doesn’t ooze too much!  They aren’t quite as crispy as the fried versions, but they were pretty good.  I dipped mine in pizza sauce.  

 

Tyler Florence Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe

Continuing with the theme of using up buttermilk, I thought I’d try Tyler Florence’s recipe for buttermilk biscuits.  I love his baguette recipe so I had high hopes.

   

The biscuits have a soft and buttery taste, but they’re not as good as Alton Brown’s biscuits since they weren’t as flakey.

 

Orange Cookies

I bought a bunch of large naval oranges and thought it’d be fun to make this recipe for orange cookies.   It’s an easy recipe to throw together.  And the cookies? 

     

They are buttery, moist, soft, and really good.  If you wanted to subsitute lemon zest for the orange zest plus a little more sugar, I think that’d work.  And lime zest would probably work too.

 

Lemon Biscotti

As you know, I was looking for new biscotti recipes for my holiday gift bag.  These lemon biscotti didn’t make it.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re good, but the orange cardamon were so superior. 

     

BTW, the dough is incredibly sticky so be prepared to add at least another 1 1/2-2 cups of flour!  Plus, it spreads (more than most biscotti dough) so make sure to make your dough logs super tall and thin.