Tara's Tastes

Chill Killer Chicken Soup

2009-10-25T11:26:00.001-04:00

I have been craving homemade chicken soup for weeks now. This is something i have never embarked on, but what better way to get a soup you like? That's right, make it yourself! You know what ingredients are going into it, and you what ingredients AREN'T going into it.

My co-worker makes a REALLY good chicken soup,and since having hers a couple of weeks ago my mission has been to create my own. Yesterday i did that, successfully.

I created my own chicken stock from scratch. Total time for me from start to consumption about 5 hours or so.

First you have to create the stock. For this i used the following ingredients and roasted them in the oven for max flavor.

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Thighs (bone in)
4 Chicken Breast Halves (with Ribs)
3 Whole Onions, quartered
6 Cloves Garlic
3 Large Carrots, cut into thirds
1 Large Green Bell Pepper, quartered
2 Tablespoons fresh Thyme
2 Tablespoons fresh Rosemary
1 Bunch Parsley, washed and patted dry

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken thighs & breasts, onions, garlic, green pepper, carrots, and celery into a large roasting pan. Bake uncovered for 1 hour.

Remove the pan from the oven. Remove the skin from the chicken (discard), remove the breast meat from the bone and set aside. (Because the breast meat for me wasn't quite cooked thoroughly i seasoned it a bit with a touch of salt, garlic powder, and paprika and put it back in the oven in the same roasting pan with all the juices from the first round for about 20-30 minutes, turning half way through. It truly made the chicken taste that much better).

Place all of the vegetables and chicken bones in an 8 quart stockpot. Cover with 3 quarts of water. Add the thyme, rosemary, and parsley to the pot. Cover the pot and simmer for at least 2 hours over very low heat.

Strain the stock by pouring the contents of the pot through a colander.

Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

4 Medium Celery Ribs, sliced (or approximately 2 cups)
4 Large Carrots, sliced (or approximately 2 cups)
2 Medium Onions, chopped (approx 1 cup)
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil
4 Cloves garlic, minced (approx 2 tablespoons)
3 Quarts of the Chicken Stock
4 Chicken Breasts that were removed from the bone.
Salt and Freshly Ground Black and White pepper to taste

Preparation:

In the bottom of a large pot cook the carrots, celery, garlic and onions in the olive oil until soft and beginning to brown. (Stirring occasionally to prevent burning)

Pour the chicken stock into the pot and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

While the stock is simmering shred the chicken breast meat into 1 inch strips.

Add the cooked chicken, shredded, to the pot. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to your specific taste.

Add noodles or rice of your choice.

Pot Roast

2009-10-14T20:23:00.000-04:00

I have been touted time and time again by numerous people about how awesome my pot roast is. I don't have a clear and concise recipe; i kind of just throw all sorts of stuff in and do what it is i do.

I can tell you that this roast was documented, but not by the precise measurement.

First i marinated (2 small roasts-all the store had). I inserted slivers of garlic into slices all around the roasts. I then marinated them in salt, white pepper, crushed garlic, montreal steak rub, gravy master, a little A1, a little Soy sauce, and some Wine.

Topped that with some garlic powder and let it sit chilled for a few hours turning occasionally to get both sides good and juiced up.

After marinating i seared/browned all sides of the roasts and added 1 whole onion chopped and 1 whole green pepper chopped.

Added beef stock (you can use your own or the canned, if using canned use roasted beef stock, not that canned brown salty liquid.. yuck..
I then added more gravy master and lipton recipe secrets beefy onion mix.. Stir it in then put the lid on and simmer under fork inserted rips out (falls off the bone tender!)

Because we are not a big fan of really lumpy gravy, once i take the meat out to settle i take the hand held drink mixer and puree the liquid. Thicken the liquid with corn starch and some butter and you are good to go!
It was delicious!

YES, those are home made mashed potatoes. Whipped them up in my Kitchen Aide stand mixer!

Bon Appetite!

UPDATE: Please help Support my Walk

2009-10-12T10:51:00.002-04:00

Update:

I would like to thank everyone that donated to my walk. I was able to raise $300.00 which puts me at the 2nd highest donation for my town's walk today.
Many hungry people thank you!

_______________________________________________________________________________

Hunger is an issue that is very important to me and I have decided to get involved! I am walking in the CROP Hunger Walk and I need your help.

Our donations will support life-saving programs around the world. Join me and our family and friends as we work together to solve this world-wide challenge.

You can be the difference, and you can start by making a donation online. Click on the link below and you will be taken to my personal donation page where you can make a secure online credit card donation.

Thank you!

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/TR/2009FallCROPHungerWalks/General?px=1294602&pg=personal&fr_id=3611&et=n93CJLLCT76p_ETDXH0r0w..&s_tafId=20855

Click here to view the team page for Squad T
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/TR/2009FallCROPHungerWalks/General?team_id=34860&pg=team&fr_id=3611&et=knPLhSiQbx4SYlBRuIY_Jg..&s_tafId=20855

Snuffing out the Garlic

2009-08-12T08:10:00.001-04:00

For those of you that cook with REAL garlic, ya know? peel and cut your own? You know all too well that that dreadfully awesome smell takes DAYS to come off your hands no matter how much you wash them.

Enter Salt

If you wash you hands with Salt and cold water it goes away.

I heard this during an interview with Meryl Streep for her new movie about Julia Childs. I thought to myself.. bullshit.. well i couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.

Last night i made garlic infused extra virgin olive oil and fettuccini with broccoli and chicken. My fingers of course wreaked of the garlicky goodness. So i tested the soap and water, and nope nothing, still stunk. So i grabbed the salt and turned the water to cold.. and wouldn't you know it?! no more garlicky smell on my fingers!!!

this is just way too good to be true considering how much i cook with fresh garlic!

My First stab at the BH&G Cookbook

2009-01-03T22:13:00.008-05:00

After reading the ENTIRE BH&G cookbook Saturday, I decided to take a stab at a dish or two.

My SO worked this weekend, so there isn't much else to do but cook, since I'm feeling lazy cleaning is not an option. I went to my local grocery store's website and pulled the sale flier for this week. They have a plethora of beef on sale, sour cream, and a nice Merlot. I decided on Beef Stroganoff since we both like that and it is not too hard to make, and home made sugar cookies, since we both love those as well.

I couldn't get the Merlot, because the liquor store portion of the store was not open when i went.. this is typical anytime i NEED to purchase something at this A&P. I wanted to make homemade creamy garlic dressing, but as usual they didn't have one key ingredient.. the dry mustard. All of the other spices were there, but the slot for the dry mustard was, of course, empty. They also didn't have the smaller box of original triscuits either, they had the large one though which i didn't want but had to spend the money on anyway. Oh and the beef? yeah the sale one was no where to be found.. I think they purposely put items in the flier and then NOT put them on sale.. kind of like bait and switch. So instead of spending $3.00 on the beef i had to spend $15.00 and 1/2 of it is now in the freezer and will most likely die there. Now you know why I'm mad about the triscuits thing. It's all about the budget.

Anyway, thanks for letting me rant, the beef stroganoff was delicious and VERY easy to make, add that one to my recipes. The sugar cookies allowed me to put my new mixer to work, a job that would have taken some elbow grease and most likely would have killed my hand mixer, my Kitchen Aid mixer owned that recipe!

I raided the wine stock we have and found yet another bottle of Shiraz. This one is from Rosemount Estate 2004, South Eastern Australia. This wine claims it displays intense spicy fruit with a richly textured subtle oak finish. I guess my pallet isn't working today because i didn't taste any of that at all. I also learned that the more tannins it has the harder the finish, well this is on the higher end because it doesn't finish as nicely as the Shiraz from the last two days.
With all of that being said, it paired OK with the beef stroganoff and a simple side salad with store bought Italian dressing.

After dinner, while my SO was getting ready for work, i got started on the cookies. I pre-made the dough during the day as it had to chill for a few hours. By the time he left for work i had 3 batches done and i sent one batch and a to-go coffee mug full of our favorite coffee. What a way to start a chilly night.. A warmed up truck, hot cookies and hot coffee! Yes, i will say I'm the greatest!

I'm sorry i don't have pictures for this one. The sun has set and i have no good lighting at all in the house. I took tons of pics of the cookies but either the flash is drowning it out or the pics come out to dark and you can't see the detail. Trust me though, they are YUMMY!

Here are the recipes from the BH&G Cookbook (in case you don't have it)

BEEF STROGANOFF

Start to finish: 30 minutes Makes: 4 servings

12 ounces boneless beef sirloin steak ( i actually used london broil because that is all i could find and it worked fine. I also cut it up a few hours early and let it sit in the refrigerator with salt and white cracked pepper)
1 8-ounce carton dairy sour ream
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup water
2 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (I omitted this b/c we both don't like them)
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups hot cooked noodles ( i used egg noodles)

1. If desired, partially freeze beef for easier slicing. Trim fat from meat. Thinly slice meat across grain into bite-size strips. In a small bowl stir together sour cream and flour. Stir in water, bouillon granules, and pepper; set aside.

2. In a large skillet cook and stir the meat, mushrooms, onion, and garlic in hot butter over medium-high heat about 5 minutes or until desired doneness. Drain off fat. (I didn't drain the fat, i left it in for flavor.. fat=flavor)

3. Stir sour cream mixture into meat mixture in skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Serve mixture over noodles. (Because we like a more brown sauce i added a few drops of gravy master to the skillet after i added the sour cream mixture.)

OLD-FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Prep: 30 Minutes Chill: 2 hours Bake: 9 minutes per batch
Oven: 375 F Makes: About 48 cookies

1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar: beat until combined. Beat in eggs, cream of tartar, baking soda, vanilla and salt until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour (not necessary if you are using a stand mixer). Cover and chill for 2 to 3 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 375 F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in the 1/4 cup sugar to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 9 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Wine

2009-01-02T20:28:00.002-05:00

I decided that i will also blog about my new wine experiences here on Tara's Tastes.
I started my first note on my main page if you want to check it out! I will follow here on any additional experiences.

After all it is Tara's Tastes.

The Holy Grail

2009-01-02T07:55:00.002-05:00

My SO's Mother gave me the BH&G cook book for Christmas.
This is The Bible of all cookbooks, the Holy Grail of the cooking world.

I am glued to it like it was the best novel ever written.

Though i know how to cook, i am learning things that i never knew. Certain techniques, terminologies, must haves for the kitchen.. it's simply the most awesome book in the world! I haven't even gotten to the recipes yet! lol

Let the journey begin!
I'm so excited!

It's ON!

2008-12-28T21:25:00.003-05:00

My SO was AWESOME at gift giving this year.
He got me The Kitchen Aid 4QT stand mixer! OMG!
I am so SIKED! I can Not WAIT to use this thing for more than just corn muffin mix lol (hey it's all i had in the house on Christmas night that i could use lol!)

This beautiful piece of machinery will come in handy for my next dessert that i have been wanting to make but haven't had time. So stay tuned.. i think it'll be coming sooner rather than later!

Pumpkin Muffins

2008-11-19T14:57:00.006-05:00

This is my favorite dessert recipe to date. It was given to me by a nutritionist that came to my company for a healthy eating seminar and brought these oodles of goodness with her!
It's easy to make and these little bundles of mouth watery goodness are delicious. Try it for yourself!
Recipe is courtesy of Cooking Light

Yields 18 Reg. Muffins or 48 Mini Muffins

2 1/4 C Flour, all purpose
2 Tsp. Pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 Tsp. Baking soda
1 Tsp. Ground ginger
1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 Cup Brown sugar, packed
1 Cup Canned pumpkin
1/3 Cup Buttermilk, low fat
1/3 Cup Canola oil
1/4 Cup Molasses
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
2 Eggs, large

*tsp = teaspoons

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measure cups; level with a knife.
Combine flour, spices, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.
Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine brown sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, oil, molasses, vanilla and eggs; stirring well with a whisk.
Add sugar mixture to flour mixture, and stir until just moist.

Spoon batter into muffin cups coated with cooking spray (amount for mini-muffins is about 1 tablespoon).

Bake at 400ºF for 15 minutes (larger muffins) or for 10 minutes (mini-muffins), or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove from pans immediately and cool on a wire rack.

Optional: if desired, you can add 1 cup of golden or dark raisins, or ½ - 1 cup of nuts (walnuts are great). If using nuts or raisins, add them to the mixed flour mixture, then add the wet ingredients and continue as above.

These are delicious served with some whipped, light cream cheese!

Per serving (mini): 75 calories, 1 ½ g. fat, 59 mg. sodium, 1 g. protein, 14 g. carb.