onedadskitchen

My Sweetie is in the Kitchen Making Soup

When it comes to making soup in our family, I have to cede the kitchen to Michelle. She makes great soups of all kinds, all year round. I had just made some chicken stock earlier in the week, using the chicken carcasses we had used to make dinner last Sunday, so we were trying to come up with a soup to make. Michelle has been having an itch for some Italian Wedding Soup, so she decided that was what she was going to make today.

Italian Wedding Soup

For the meatballs:

2 slices of white bread (use good white bread for this)

1/3 cup buttermilk

3/4 pound ground beef

1/4 pound ground pork

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 large egg yolk

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and pepper

For the soup:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup minced onion

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, diced

5 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup of small pasta (Michelle actually used orzo this time around)

12 ounces spinach, washed and trimmed

For the meatballs, remove and discard the crusts from the bread, then tear the bread into small pieces. Mash the bread pieces and buttermilk to a smooth paste in a large bowl, using a fork.

Add the beef, pork, Parmesan, parsley, yolk, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper to the mashed bread. Stir the mixture gently until combined and uniform. Gently form the mixture into 1-inch round meatballs ( I made them smaller this time for the soup).

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the meatballs on a wire rack in a cookie sheet or roasting pan. Cook for approximately 20 to 30 minutes or until well browned.

For the soup, heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the meatballs to the soup and simmer for one minute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle with extra grated Parmesan cheese.

This recipe makes a lot of soup. The original recipe is double what I have shown here, but we halved it and it still made enough soup for dinner tonight and filled storage containers for 4 or 5 lunches, so you can get a lot mileage out of this one. it made the entire house smell great while it was cooking. You could use any type of small pasta that you like for this soup, we just happen to have orzo on hand so we decided to use that instead. The other nice thing was I made extra meatballs so we have some to use for some sauce for a dinner this week.

Okay, it’s really hot and humid here today, so I am going to slip into the air conditioning in the bedroom and relax for the rest of the evening. I do have some recipes planned for this week using shrimp, chicken and maybe some squid. We’ll see if anything comes up along the way. Until next time, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 12, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Soups & Stews

Tags: italian wedding soup, meatballs

Guide to Grilling | Williams-Sonoma

11 Aug

Guide to Grilling | Williams-Sonoma.

There’s still plenty of time to do some grilling this summer if you haven’t already. There’s nothing quite like, well, just about anything cooked on the grill. I can’t think of something that doesn’t have the potential to turn out great. Anyway, Williams-Sonoma has this great guide on their website to tell you everything you ever needed to know about grilling, from grill types and equipment to grill safety and of course, what to cook and how to cook it. Check it out, it’s pretty good!

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Posted by MikeG on August 11, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Grilling

Tags: grilling tips, guide to grilling, williams-sonoma

It’s Too Hot Out to Cook, Let’s Make Some Chicken Salad

10 Aug

Holy Moley it’s been pretty humid here. Today especially seems too humid and sticky out to bother with the oven. Luckily, we have lots of chicken available of all different types, so it makes it ideal to make some chicken salad sandwiches for dinner tonight. Personally, I love a good sandwich. I don’t eat cold cuts or deli meat, except for the occasional pastrami sandwich. I would much rather have a sandwich using fresh meat, like turkey, chicken or tuna, or even shrimp or lobster. There are a lot of things you can do to make any of these things into a great sandwich. Even just making a nice vegetable sandwich can be awesome, using fresh tomatoes, lettuce, maybe some grilled eggplant, mushrooms, the combinations can be endless. For tonight, we’ll keep it simple with basic chicken salad.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

1 3/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 ribs of celery, chopped fine

3/4 cup mayonnaise

2 scallions, minced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

6 hard rolls (or any bread you might like, enough for 6 sandwiches)

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Carefully add the chicken and cook until lightly golden brown on the first side, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over, cover and continue to cook until it is no longer pink the center, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a plate and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. Cut the chilled chicken into 3/4-inch pieces and toss with the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread on the rolls and serve.

If you’re like me, we almost always have leftover chicken that can be used instead of making chicken just to make the salad. Use what you have or make it this way. You could also just bake the chicken in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until it is cooked through. Once it is time to make the sandwiches, you can build it anyway you like. Add some fresh sliced tomato, leaves of lettuce or spinach, some sliced red onion, a slice or two of bacon, some sliced avocado, or whatever else you might like to have on the sandwich. That’s the great thing about sandwiches – you can do whatever you want with them.

For sides, you can make potato salad, serve it with some chips or some pickle. You could also make some coleslaw to go along side of it. I like this coleslaw recipe since it doesn’t use mayonnaise. I do like the creamy slaw, but using this simple recipe can save you some fat and calories and it tastes great.

Spicy No-Mayo Coleslaw

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar, or freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 small garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh chile, like jalapeno (optional)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 cups core shredded green and/or red cabbage

1 large red or yellow pepper, cored, seeded and diced

1/3 cup chopped scallion

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

To make the dressing, whisk together the mustard and vinegar in a small bowl, along with the garlic and chile, if using. Add the oil, a little at a time, whisking all the while.

Combine the cabbage, bell pepper and scallion and toss with the dressing. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, toss with the parsley.

I normally let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two so the flavors can meld together nicely, but you could let it go even longer if you wanted to. Also, sometimes I add a little shredded carrot to the mix. You could also just buy one of those bags of coleslaw mix and use what is in the bag and just make this dressing.

That’s all for tonight. We do have a few things we are hoping to make for dinner in the next few days, so I hope to post some other recipes this weekend as well. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 10, 2012 in Cooking, Lunch, Poultry, Salad, Sandwiches

Tags: chicken salad, chicken salad sandwiches, coleslaw, spicy no-mayo coleslaw

10 Reasons You Should Buy a Watermelon RIGHT NOW: BA Daily: bonappetit.com

09 Aug

10 Reasons You Should Buy a Watermelon RIGHT NOW: BA Daily: bonappetit.com.

What says summer better than a nice watermelon? We’ve all used them in fruit salads, but here, from Bon Appetit, are 10 interesting and unique recipes that are certainly worth looking at and giving a try next time you are trying to figure out what to do with that extra watermelon you may have. Check it out!

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Posted by MikeG on August 9, 2012 in Cooking Websites, Produce

Tags: 10 reasons you should buy a watermelon right now, 10 watermelon recipes, watermelon

How To: Make Perfect Brown Rice | Our Best Bites

08 Aug

How To: Make Perfect Brown Rice | Our Best Bites.

I have been trying to introduce more brown rice into my own meals, but no one ever seems too excited about it because it just doesn’t turn out right. This blog, using a method set out by America’s Test Kitchen, sounds easy and foolproof. I am going to give it a try and you should too. Check it out!

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Posted by MikeG on August 8, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Rice

Tags: americas test kitchen, how to make perfect brown rice, our best bites

Full Press: Nine Surprising Ways to Use a Panini Maker: BA Daily: bonappetit.com

07 Aug

Full Press: Nine Surprising Ways to Use a Panini Maker: BA Daily: bonappetit.com.

I have a panini maker myself and have used it for a variety of things, including a couple of the ideas shown here. I think having one is an excellent tool especially for a smaller kitchen (like mine) because of its versatility and what you can use it for when perhaps you have other things going on the stove top as well. It’s also great because it helps minimize what you have to clean up if want to make a smaller meal. Check out these ideas from Bon Appetit!

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Posted by MikeG on August 7, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Equipment

Tags: bon appetit, nine ways to use a panini maker, panini press

Chicken, Beets and Magic Ice Cream

06 Aug

We had family over for dinner yesterday so we did our typical Sunday dinner with way too much food. We started off with appetizers of buffalo chicken pizza and some homemade guacamole and tomato salsa with some chips. Then for dinner, I tried to do everything in one roasting pan to help cut down on the clean up. We made a couple of roast chickens with roasted root vegetables that we had picked up at the farmer’s market on Saturday. This also included some fresh beets that I roasted and they turned out wonderful. The whole dinner was very easy to prepare, although it took about 2 hours in total to cook. I used recipes from Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” for the meal yesterday.

Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 whole chickens, 3 to 4 pounds each, trimmed of excess fat

2-3 russet potatoes, scrubbed and chopped

1/2 pound parsnips, peeled and chopped

1/2 pound carrots, peeled and chopped

1 sweet potato, scrubbed and chopped

1 onion, peeled and quartered

6 whole cloves of garlic

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix together the olive oil and thyme and some salt and pepper. Put the chickens, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Toss all the vegetables together in a large bowl with 3/4 of the herb and oil mixture and scatter in the bottom of the roasting pan beneath the chickens. Roast the chickens in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, spoon some of the herb mixture over the chicken and the vegetables. Shake the pan gently so the vegetables turn and cook evenly.

After roasting for another 10 minutes, the chicken breasts should begin to brown (if they don’t, wait a few more minutes until they are brown). Turn the heat in the oven down to 325 degrees, baste again with the remaining herb mixture, and roast until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 155-165 degrees.

Remove the chickens from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Continue roasting the vegetables while the chickens rest before carving, about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Serve the carved chickens with the vegetables scattered around them.

We served the chickens and vegetables with a fresh tomato and cucumber salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and a little diced shallot. You could just as easily only make one of the vegetables for this meal instead of the mix, but the mix turned out quite nice and gave us a good variety. I also made some fresh beets that I roasted with this meal. Now, not everyone is a fan of beets in general. I think some people were scarred in childhood by being forced into eating them, but fresh roasted beets taste unbelievably delicious. They have a very sweet flavor from their natural sugars, and once you have roasted them they are great hot or cold. Roasting them really is the best method for cooking them.

Roasted Beets

4 large beets, scrubbed, greens cut off (leave a bit of the greens on the end to help stop them from bleeding all over while they cook)

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the beets well. Wrap them individually in foil and put them on a cookie sheet or in a roasting pan. Bake, undisturbed for 45 to 90 minutes, until the thin blade of knife pierces one with a little resistance. Remove the beets from the foil and carefully and gently rub the surface of the beet to remove the peel. Dress lightly with extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper.

If you bake them in foil, you don’t really have to worry about them staining anything (unless of course you drop a piece on your shirt while you’re eating. Thankfully, none of us did). You could also take the roasted beets, cut them and saute them gently with some butter or olive oil after roasting for some added flavor, but I think they are great just this way. Everyone seemed to really enjoy them, and I had leftovers tonight with dinner.

I decided to try something completely different for dessert last night. I had seen a recipe from Cook’s Country for something called Magic Strawberry Ice Cream. The name intrigued me so I read up on it and it claimed to make ice cream with the need of an ice cream machine or maker. I figured why not, let’s give it a try.

Magic Strawberry Ice Cream

8 ounces strawberries, hulled

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 ounce white chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vodka

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 1/4 cups heavy creamed, chilled

Process the strawberries in a food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds (puree should measure about 3/4 cup). Microwave the sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate chips and vodka in a large bowl until the chocolate melts, about 1 minute, whisking halfway through cooking. Whisk in the strawberry puree, vanilla and salt.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, whip the heavy cream on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes. Whisk one-third of the whipped cream into the strawberry mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream, 1 scoop at a time, until combined. Freeze in an airtight container until firm, 6 hours or up to 2 weeks. Serve.

I know you are probably asking, why is there vodka in this recipe? Well the berries have a lot of moisture all on their own and the ice cream would crystallize and ice over. The vodka prevents this from happening and lets the berries do their thing. I have to say, I was very skeptical this would work but I could tell before I even combined the puree with the whipped cream that this was going to taste good. The puree itself smelled exactly like a good strawberry ice cream. Once everything was combined and had set, it was perfect and tasted awesome. What made it even better for us was that Michelle’s grandmother had unknowingly made a strawberry shortcake to bring for dessert, so it was absolute perfect with a little ice cream on the side.

Of course, if I was smart I would have taken pictures of everything, but Sean reminded me about after most of the ice cream was gone, so I didn’t get a picture of it (he’s actually finishing the ice cream right now). Oh well, maybe next time. Now that we know how easy it is to make, I’ll certainly make it again.

That’s it for tonight. I have 2 chicken carcasses to make stock with tomorrow and I never did get to make chicken salad sandwiches the other night, but maybe I will do that tomorrow and post the recipe with some potato salad and cole slaw. We’ll have to see what else comes along this week. Work has kept me very busy lately, so I haven’t had time to blog, but I will try to fit some in this week. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 6, 2012 in Cooking, Dessert, Poultry, Vegetables

Tags: magic strawberry ice cream, mark bittman, roast chicken with root vegetables, roasted beets, roasted root vegetables

Butterfly, Butterfly, Butterflied Barbecued Chicken

02 Aug

It was too hot to use the stove tonight here, so I decided to go for the grill instead. As you know if you follow my blog, we live in a condo and New York State law says no charcoal or gas grills can be stored if you live in this type of dwelling, so I use an electric grill instead. You don’t always get the greatest results, but it works pretty well if you combine it with using a smoker box. I wanted to do something very simple tonight, so I found this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for a grilled butterflied chicken. I did jazz it up a little bit by adding a dry rub and the smoker box, but you can easily just do this with just some salt and pepper.

Grilled Butterflied Chicken

2 cups of wood chips, soaked and drained

Vegetable oil

1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) whole chicken

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced

Place the wood chips in a disposable aluminum tray or a smoker box. Rest the box on top of the primary burner. Turn all the burners on to high, close the lid and heat the grill until it is very hot, about 15 minutes. Clean and oil the grill and turn all the burners to medium-low.

Mix the garlic, salt, pepper and parsley together in a small bowl. Remove and discard the gizzard packet from inside the chicken. Butterfly the chicken using poultry shears. Lay the chicken on its breast and use the poultry shears to cut out the backbone. Flip the chicken to breast side up and cover it with plastic wrap. Using a meat pounder, flatten the chicken by pounding lightly. Season both sides of the chicken with the dry rub.

Grill the chicken skin-side down, covered, until the skin is crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted deep into the thigh registers 165 degrees, about 30 to 45 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a carving board, tent with foil and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before carving into pieces.

It is all super easy, very fast and tastes great. We just made some sliced carrots and diced potatoes to go along with the meal and it was perfect.

For tomorrow, we’ll be using a lot of the leftovers. I am planning some chicken salad sandwiches, potato salad and cole slaw, so you can check back to see how I decide to make them. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 2, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Poultry

Tags: grilled butterflied chicken

Sizzling Steak Fajitas

01 Aug

I had picked up a skirt steak this week and wanted an easy dinner for tonight, and you can’t get much easier than this fajita recipe. We love fajitas in our house and make them with all kinds of filling, like chicken (most often) shrimp, an occasionally beef. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, is perfect for a weeknight meal since it only takes about 30 minutes to prepare and cook everything and you can use ingredients that a lot of people already have in the house.

Steak Fajitas

1 1 1/2 pound flank steak

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 peppers (red, yellow or green, your choice) stemmed, seeded and sliced very thin

1 onion, sliced very thin

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Flour tortillas

Pat the steak dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the steak on the first side, about 5 minutes.

Flip the steak over and continue to cook to the desired doneness, 3 to 6 minutes. Transfer the steak to a large plate and drizzle with the lime juice. Tent the steak with foil and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and return it to medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the peppers, onion, water, chili powder, hot sauce, cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer everything to a serving bowl.

Stack the tortillas on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Heat the tortillas in a microwave until soft and hot, about 2 minutes (You can also heat the tortillas individually in a hot skillet, flipping each one after about 20 seconds to heat the second side).

Slice the steak very thinly across the grain. Arrange the beef on a platter and serve with the warm tortillas, vegetables and any sides you like and let everyone make their own fajitas as they like.

I usually serve fajitas with some diced tomato or homemade salsa, guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese and shredded lettuce. This way, everyone can add what they like best onto their own fajitas. Sometimes I also serve this with Mexican rice or rice and beans.

That’s dinner for tonight. I have a whole chicken to make tomorrow but I am not quite sure what recipe I want to use yet. I think it really depends on the weather and if it’s too humid to use the oven. I may opt to use the grill tomorrow night instead. We’ll have to see how it goes. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 1, 2012 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner

Tags: guacamole, homemade salsa, mexican rice, salsa, steak fajitas

5 Ways to Improve Your Life in 30 Days: BA Daily: bonappetit.com

01 Aug

5 Ways to Improve Your Life in 30 Days: BA Daily: bonappetit.com.

I came across this great blog entry from Bon Appetit today and just had to share it. It talks about just committing to certain things for a month how this can lead to bigger changes overall in your habits. I think it’s worth a try. One of the more important ones I already follow is eating more at home. We cut back and only go out about once a month now and I think we are better for it. I am going to give their other tips a try as well. You should check it out!