Broccoli Cheese Soup

I've realized, the more I cook and try things and expand recipes I've made before, that I really cook with words. Words like butter, cream, onion, pepper can all make a recipe. Margarine, non-fat milk, onion powder... These words don't belong. They really don't belong to Broccoli Cheese soup served with baked potatoes and sweet Hawaiian rolls.

I really do cook with words.

Vanilla is fragrant, sugar is sweet, but it goes way beyond that. Creamy, salty, piquant, peppery, these are all words I use in my head when I cook. I can read a recipe and visualize through what each ingredient would taste like what the finished product could be.

Could be.

There is no guarantee in food. You can weigh the outcome in your favor by using fresh, organic ingredients. Barring that, use the best processed ingredients you can get. But if you use a bad ingredient to begin with, you won't get the same results. Case in point: Broccoli Cheese soup. I could up the quality level (and thereby the flavor value) by using fresh broccoli, but it was cheaper to use a good quality frozen. I upped the volume of the broccoli by 100%, the original called for 1/2 a pound. I could have used locally produced cheddar from the Epicurean at 11.99 a pound, but I chose the generic sharp cheddar sold under the store brand. I did use an organic 1/2 and 1/2, which is what the recipe called for. Other than that, I followed the recipe.

Words like margarine, non-fat milk and onion powder really don't belong.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 1/2 and 1/2
2 cups chicken broth
1 pound broccoli, chopped
1 cup carrots, julienned
8 oz. sharp cheddar, grated
bacon bits
chopped green onion

Saute the onion in the tablespoon of butter over medium heat until just barely caramelized. Set aside. In a large saucepan, melt the 1/4 cup of butter until it's bubbling. Whisk in the flour. Cook the flour approximately 4 minutes, constantly whisking. Whisk in the half-and-half slowly. Whisk in the chicken broth. Simmer about 20 minutes. Stir in the onions, broccoli and carrots. Simmer for 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. The soup should be thickened.
Process in blender in batches until desired smoothness is reached.
Return to simmer.
Stir in cheddar until soup is smooth and all cheese is melted.
Serve with bacon bits and green onions sprinkled on top.

Braise... Recipe Tuesday

Continuing the theme of braising for flavor, I give you....

Braised Shredded Beef

2lb bottom round roast
1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed or very finely minced
1 cup beer (drink the rest. If it's not drinkable, don't use it)
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
2 T worchestershire sauce
2 T teriyaki sauce (I used store brand)
1/2 tsp yellow mustard (basic yellow, please)
3 T honey
5 c. water
2 T Steak seasoning (I used McCormicks Montreal Steak)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Jane's Crazy or other seasoned salt mixture
1 T butter

Mix the teriyaki sauce, worcestershire sauce, honey, vinegar and mustard together in a microwave safe container. Heat for 30 seconds on high, stir, heat 30 more seconds. It should smell like a steak sauce. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the onion and celery with 1/2 the seasoned salt. Pat the roast dry. Rub the steak seasoning, chili powder and remaining seasoned salt over the beef, all sides.
Melt the butter over medium high heat. You should be using a Dutch oven, oven-safe large casserole dish or a covered stew pot (I'm using the stew pot).
Sear the beef, all sides. Remove the beef to a plate.
Saute the celery and onions over medium heat until translucent, scraping the fond from the bottom of the pan. Add garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes more. Deglaze the pan with the beer, cook down by 1/2. Pour in the teriyaki mix with 5 cups water. Heat to a simmer. Add the beef and any accumulated juices back into the pan. The liquid should just barely cover or almost cover the roast. Add liquid if necessary (beer, water, broth). Bring back to a simmer.
Remove from stovetop to pre-heated oven. Roast for 2 hours. Check the beef. If it doesn't pull apart easily, continue roasting for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, let it rest uncovered in the pan juices for approximately 15 minutes. Remove meat from pan, refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.




Once the beef is cooled down, start shredding. You'll want to remove any residual fat or connective tissue. This means use your nature-provided utensils (hands) and get into it. If you think the shreds are a little too long, cut them. You can use scissors or just cut the roast in 2 or 3 places across the grain.



Once you have your shred, you can freeze it, eat it cold, eat it hot, mix it with sauces, use in place of 'precooked ground beef'... It's very versatile.

To use for barbecue: Re-heat the beef in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it sizzles. Add approximately 1/4 cup barbecue sauce of your choice for each serving. Stir, serve on buns.
To use for burritos or tacos: Re-heat the beef in a saute or frypan over medium-low heat until it sizzles. Add your burrito or taco seasoning according to package directions. If you want to spice it up yourself for burritos (which I frequently do), stir in some chili powder, some chopped onion, some cilantro, some salsa. Stir, serve on tortillas.
To use for soups: Add some to your favorite soup.
To use for sandwich filling: This is a trick from one of my uncles. Saute a handful in a non-stick pan with some garlic and steak seasoning. Stir in a tablespoon of sour cream. Serve on toast. YUM.

It's been such a LOOONG time...

....since I've posted here in the Kitchen. It's not that I haven't been cooking, I've just been cooking seriously cheap and weird lately. Seriously cheap: Get a package of smoked sausage and a package of red beans and rice. Combine. Seriously cheap: lettuce+raw veg+ sliced meats=chef's salad. Tuna salad... When you use 1 can of tuna (well drained), 1/4 red onion, 4 hard boiled eggs, 3 stalks celery, 1/4 bell pepper, 4 tablespoons relish, 4 tablespoons mayo, it's weird and crunchy and not really 'tuna salad'....

So as you see, Dear Reader, it's been cheap and weird. So I thought, in the interest of keeping this place alive, I'd share some of my favorite food and recipe links and maybe YOU will be inspired to cook something. Wait for next week. I've got some ideas. Please be aware, this could be considered food porn.

I've talked a bit here in Oak Ridge about not having "my" Mexican places to eat at. Here's recipes from one of them, Garduno's Restaurants, in Albuquerque. They've got up their recipe for Roasted Red Chile Salsa. YUM YUM. Along the same lines is this offering from PNM, the Public Service Co. of NM, their Cocinas de New Mexico cookbook. Tacos, posole, refritos, empanaditas fritas, sopas and Navajo Fry Bread, they have it all. GREAT traditional recipes.

Here's a great resource from Figleaf: The World's Healthiest Foods. Interesting reference site geared (as the title suggests) to healthy food. Another great reference site if you like cheese (and I do) is the Wisconsin Cheese and Dairy board. They've got a bunch of free things you can get, including a 'cheese chart' (reminds me I need to get another one, actually), and downloadable files as well. A great chile site is Dave's Fiery Foods. He runs the Fiery Foods Show that goes between Albuquerque and Vegas.

Here is a place with just about every cuisine known in Asia: AsiaRecipe.com. Warning: Heavy popups. It's got Philipino, Japanese, Chinese, Thai... Go play, but turn on your pop-up blocker.

These are some sites I've been perusing lately: Stephen Cooks, One Hot Stove, and Live to Eat. Interesting, but I've been strapped for time and such and can't make some of the beautiful recipes they have.

Desserts are best (in my opinon) purchased, and who better for chocolate than Jacques Torres? I can vouch for the quality of the product. I can vouch for the incredibly fast shipping. This man should be given a medal.

This next site... Whatever you think of the woman, the court case, the jail time, the magazine, the tv shows... Martha Stewart has some excellent recipes. And let's not forget Food TV, Emeril's (even if you think he's a tool) and Williams-Sonoma. Ideas, people. Utilize them for IDEAS....

So happy eating, and I'll see you next week!

The Its-Been-a-Hell-of-a-Week Quiche

Hi, I'm SiO2. I've commented some here and I post Recipe Tuesday stuff in that Other journaling site, but the food's good so at Neuro's request I'll be cross posting here and there and I also ended up with my own blog(I'll link if I do anything with it). I'm sure that's mostly a sentence.

Its Recipe Tuesday and after the week or so that it has been, Dear Reader (rough and not in that warm squishy way), I figure I'll make comfort food this week.

This is the sort of about right style my dad taught me to cook in (think of measuring a teaspoon in of salt into your cupped palm and knowing its about right). I have no idea what dad calls this, but its thing he made for dinner when the day had been long or awful.

OK pick up a zucchini: wash and shred it

Take a glass baking pan and grease or spray it. Then line it with the zucchini shreds and press them into place. Bake 350 that til a little crispy. After you pull that out of the oven turn it up to 400 to preheat.

Take enough eggs (5ish - it depends upon your pan) and milk and cheese to fill this and beat them and pour it in to the crust, plus or minus spicing but really I like it mostly plain. Fresh sage could go well.

Place mixture in the crust then cover with red chile sauce, which is buy red chile add water and simmer till gooey.

Bake at 400 or so for 30-45 or til golden brown and solid.

I always think this is fabulous in its balance: spicy and plain, crunchy and soft. Sorry no pictures.