So today I found myself looking into a bag of mushrooms that were on the edge of going bad. I always seem to be doing this; buying produce, using some of it, and then throwing the rest of it in the fridge for it to go bad. But not today, I decided to make onion mushroom soup.
I knew I had to sauté the onions first, and that’s what I did. I sliced up 1 and a half red and yellow onions and 3 shallots and threw it all into a sauté pan with a nice big handful of salt. I recently heard salt referred to as foods magnifying glass, you use it to make flavors bigger and better. And I let them cook until I got a nice creamy texture and a golden brown color.
At the same time I brought a pot of water up to a boil, with some S and P (that’s salt and pepper) and a touch of olive oil.
As I looked at my pot and pan on the stove, I realized I had no plan for what I was going to do next. I never made this soup before and I had nothing to reference for an idea. So I asked myself, what am I cooking? Soup. Ok what kind of soup? Onion mushroom. Ok so I got the onions cooking and I have to cook the mushrooms, and in they went into the pot of water. Then I threw in the onions and let that come back to a boil.
Ok now what? Um….spices, I didn’t want anything to strong, so I added some chicken consume, oregano, basil, and of course garlic, who could forget garlic, I put in about 6 cloves sliced up nice and thin.
After that, I realized the soup was too liquidy, I wanted it to be thicker but boiling the water out just wasn’t cutting it, so I added some flour, I’d say probably about 1/3 of a cup.
Once it got to the consistence I wanted, I gave it another taste. It was still missing something, but what? It had the onions and mushrooms, spices, garlic, chicken consume. And that’s when it hit me; there was no fat in the soup. And there in lied my problem, I had no chicken or meat to put in it. So I pulled out my trusty package of beef hot dogs.
Now, I know hot dogs are on the bottom of the culinary food chain, but every college student should always have tuna, beer, and hot dogs on hand in case of an emergency.
So I cut 3 dogs up into chunks and threw them in.
I let the soup sit for about an hour and a half, then put it in the fridge. We’ll see how it turns out tomorrow. To me, the best soup is day old soup; soup needs time to sit to let the flavors blend.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
good old fashion chicken soup
When I was little, we always had a pot of chicken soup in our fridge. It was a simple yet delicious recipe.
You start off with about four to six pieces of chicken. I like using thighs because they have a higher fat content then breasts, which gives more flavor to the soup.
Then, depending on how big of a soup I want to make, I add four to six carrots and six to eight zucchinis, peeled and chopped, as well as a whole onion, and lastly a heaping tablespoon or two of chicken consume.
Fill the pot up with water, so that everything is submerged in water.
Cook it on high until you get a good rolling boil, then let it simmer on low heat for about an hour.
Next, refrigerate the soup over night so that the fat congeals on the top.
Once it does, scoop out the fat with a spoon, and you're good to go.
You start off with about four to six pieces of chicken. I like using thighs because they have a higher fat content then breasts, which gives more flavor to the soup.
Then, depending on how big of a soup I want to make, I add four to six carrots and six to eight zucchinis, peeled and chopped, as well as a whole onion, and lastly a heaping tablespoon or two of chicken consume.
Fill the pot up with water, so that everything is submerged in water.
Cook it on high until you get a good rolling boil, then let it simmer on low heat for about an hour.
Next, refrigerate the soup over night so that the fat congeals on the top.
Once it does, scoop out the fat with a spoon, and you're good to go.
bringing old recipes to life
So today I decided to take some of my favorite recipes and threw a spin on them.
I started off with boiled chicken, then my popcorn cauliflower, a cabbage salad, and baked potato chips.
For the chicken, normally I bake the individual pieces with barbecue sauce, but I was trying to think of a way to get the moist, tender chicken of a slow roast, but without drying it out.
When I thought about it, I realized the most moist chicken I know of is chicken from good old fashion chicken soup. So I strained the leftovers from a pot of chicken soup into another pot, added a whole onion cut into half. threw in two bay leaves, about a cup of water, some salt and pepper, some oregano, and thyme.
As for the chicken itself, I rubbed a whole chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and thyme. and placed it in the pot, breasts down.
I, then, cooked the chicken for about two and a half hours on low heat.
Next, I made my popcorn cauliflower recipe, but once the cauliflower was done cooking I added it sauteed asparagus that I thinly sliced diagonally.
Once I cut up the asparagus, I lightly coated them with about a teaspoon olive oil. then added 3 cloves of garlic, diced, and some salt and pepper.
My next dish was a purple cabbage slaw. I used about a pound of pre-shredded purple cabbage from a bag, then added about 3 to 4 cups of red seedless grapes, cut in half, some sesame seeds, and a 1/4 cup of both teriyaki sauce and balsamic vinegar.
And if that wasn't enough, I also made baked potato and sweet potato chips. Out of everything, these were probably the easiest to make and the dish that was finished the fastest.
I took two regular and one huge sweet potato, cut them using my trusty mandolin on the middle setting. I cut them right into a bowl of water to wash them off, so they don't stick together when they cook. Then, I laid them flat, one layer per tray, on a cookie sheet with foil, but first I sprayed the foil so that the potatoes don't stick to the foil. then I lightly coated them with salt and stuck them in the oven at 500 degrees until the potatoes start to brown.
I started off with boiled chicken, then my popcorn cauliflower, a cabbage salad, and baked potato chips.
For the chicken, normally I bake the individual pieces with barbecue sauce, but I was trying to think of a way to get the moist, tender chicken of a slow roast, but without drying it out.
When I thought about it, I realized the most moist chicken I know of is chicken from good old fashion chicken soup. So I strained the leftovers from a pot of chicken soup into another pot, added a whole onion cut into half. threw in two bay leaves, about a cup of water, some salt and pepper, some oregano, and thyme.
As for the chicken itself, I rubbed a whole chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and thyme. and placed it in the pot, breasts down.
I, then, cooked the chicken for about two and a half hours on low heat.
Next, I made my popcorn cauliflower recipe, but once the cauliflower was done cooking I added it sauteed asparagus that I thinly sliced diagonally.
Once I cut up the asparagus, I lightly coated them with about a teaspoon olive oil. then added 3 cloves of garlic, diced, and some salt and pepper.
My next dish was a purple cabbage slaw. I used about a pound of pre-shredded purple cabbage from a bag, then added about 3 to 4 cups of red seedless grapes, cut in half, some sesame seeds, and a 1/4 cup of both teriyaki sauce and balsamic vinegar.
And if that wasn't enough, I also made baked potato and sweet potato chips. Out of everything, these were probably the easiest to make and the dish that was finished the fastest.
I took two regular and one huge sweet potato, cut them using my trusty mandolin on the middle setting. I cut them right into a bowl of water to wash them off, so they don't stick together when they cook. Then, I laid them flat, one layer per tray, on a cookie sheet with foil, but first I sprayed the foil so that the potatoes don't stick to the foil. then I lightly coated them with salt and stuck them in the oven at 500 degrees until the potatoes start to brown.
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