Thirty-second Post ~ "And on the eighth day, He created chicken soup."

It happens. The cold weather hits our bodies just the right way, and we wake up feeling ... sick. My mother has always been a firm believer in the healing powers of chicken soup. The past two weeks spent home recuperating from chicken pox (yes, at age 26) were well-accompanied by a big pot of my mama's golden, savory, healing chicken soup. She passed the recipe on to me, so that I too can wield this ageless power of common vegetables, herbs and meat.

I pass it on to you, so that you also may know its strength in your times of weakness!

Chicken Soup
A Curative Concoction for the Common Cold

Here's what you'll need.

~ Chicken Legs (4-6 legs; 4-5 lbs)
~ Celery
~ 1 Spanish onion (or 2 small yellow)
~ Chicken bullion
~ Carrots
~ Uncle Ben's long grain wild rice (fast cook recipe or microwavable pouch)
~ 1-2 bay leaves
~ Salt and pepper

And now, clear-cut, easy-to-follow-even-through-haze-of-cold-medicine directions:

In large pot or Dutch oven place chicken legs with enough water to cover plus 2 inches. Start boiling.

Add 1-2 bay leaves, 10-12 bullion cubes, salt and pepper to taste.

Chop celery - enough equal to 3 stalks. Add to pot.
¨ If not well, don't bother chopping, cut leafy top part off and add the stalks to pot, plus or minus a few leaves.

Chop carrots - one good handful. Add to pot.
¨ If not well, don't bother chopping, use baby carrots.

Chop onion - 1/4 inch slice from center of Spanish, or two golf ball sized yellow onions. Add to pot. A small piece of bread held in the mouth will prevent eyes from stinging while slicing onion.
¨ If not well, don't bother chopping, put slice of Spanish in whole.

Cover and boil all until meat starts falling off the bones (40-50 minutes).

Take meat out and cover on plate to cool (about 30 minutes). Continue boiling mixture on high heat (and watch it so it doesn't scorch!).

De-bone and skin chicken and dice. Put back into boiled down mixture.

Add Uncle Ben’s wild rice. Easiest to use the pre-cooked packages, but also can cook rice separately and add.
¨ If not well, just use the pre-cooked microwavable rice – don’t bother microwaving, just pour it in the pot.

::PAUSE::

Customarily, this family recipe calls for egg noodles. I, however, prefer grains in soup, such as barley and wild rice. Therefore, rice is used in this recipe, but if the idea of chicken rice soup is blasphemous to you, noodles can easily be substituted!

::UNPAUSE::

Repeatedly taste and boil until soup reaches desired strength.

Optional - draw out broth with ladle, let sit in clear container, and use turkey baster to pull out settled broth from bottom of container and place back in pot to boil (leaving separated fat in container to be disposed of).
¨ If not well, just wait until later when soup is chilled, then remove the hardened fat from the top of the pot with a spoon and dispose.

So there you have it. If you're truly sick, you may find that this pot becomes your sole sustenance, morning, noon and night. There's nothing wrong with that - it's one heck of a hearty, healthful soup - stew, really - that will have you back on your feet in no time!

Yours in the love of the restorative powers of food,
AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Twenty-first Post ~ Herbed Lamb Tenderloins with Garlic Parmesan Green Beans

Tonight I was really tired and wanted something quick and foolproof. Unfortunately, that's exactly when things go wrong. So part of this meal required a bit of a do-over, but when all was said and done, it turned out just fine!
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Here's what you'll need:
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~ Lamb tenderloins
~ Dried herb and spice blend (I recommend oregano, rosemary, thyme and paprika)
~ Lemon juice
~ Olive oil
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And for the side:
~ Green beans (frozen, French cut)
~ Garlic
~ Parmesan
~ A little bit of oil
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Put a bit of olive oil in a stick-free pan. Put the dried herbs in a mortar and pestal and grind them up. Pour a bit of lemon juice into the oil, start it heating, and then scatter in the ground herbs. Traditionally this herb blend is used as a rub for meat, but I thought I'd create a cheater's quick marinade by putting it in the oil and letting it all meld. After the oil cools, set the lamb tenderloins into the oil and herb mixture and turn them around so they get covered in herbs. Don't start it heating right away: let them sit for a bit - long enough for you to do the dishes, perhaps?
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::PAUSE::
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Now, before you do anything else, get your garlic ready. I started the beans before I got the garlic ready, and then stupidly decided to mince the garlic, which is a really time-consuming process. I got the garlic done and my beans had smoldered away in the pan into sad shriveled nothingness. I tossed that batch out and started over. The moral of the story is, always get everything ready BEFORE you turn the heat on.
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::UNPAUSE::
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So get your garlic chopped, minced, whatever. Start the heat on the lamb and turn it a few times. Prepare the beans with a little olive oil. In the interest of time, I crushed the garlic for the last batch in my garlic press. Either method would work well. Just as the beans are getting done, add the crushed garlic and stir them around a bit. Turn off the heat and sprinkle parm over the top of them. The remaining heat from the pan should start the parm melting a bit.
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I paired tonight's dinner with an Italian pinot noir by Cadonini. It is just the right level of earthy to compliment the lamb and the right level of fruity to offset the herbs. It went wonderfully with tonight's dinner and gave it a perfect finish.
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Yours in the love of good food and wine,
AL
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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.

Seventeenth Post ~ Herbed Pork with Green Beans: Faster than a Lousy Microwave Dinner!

Tonight's dinner was incredibly fast and very tasty. Here's what you'll need:

~Pork tenderloins (I chose Wegmans - they were sliced so thin it was practically like pork sushi... I would have liked them a little thicker)
~ Spices (more on that later)
~ Salt/Pepper to taste

~Green beans

I used a spice combination that I'm quite fond of for using as a herb-crusting on any meat. I combined:

~Oregano
~Rosemary
~Paprika
~Salt
~Pepper
~Thyme

I crushed them all together in a small bowl then sprinkled it and patted it into the meat. This pork was so thin that it was cooked literally in minutes; in fact, I think I overcooked it a bit. I didn't add any oil to the pan as I didn't want this meal to be too heavy.

I sauteed the green beans in a pan with a little oil and a tiny amount of water to create some steam.

I served tonight's dinner with a wonderful Italian wine: Lacryma Christi Mastroberardino. It's from the vineyards of Mount Vesuvius, which, being a geek of all things Roman, made me positively shiver with excitement. It is dry but with a grassy, earthy taste. Its pairs wonderfully with the spices in the pork, giving the whole meal a well-balanced, light feeling.

Ahh - a perfect meal! Quick to prepare, wonderfully savory, and nicely paired with a wine positively steeped in history!

Yours in the love of good food and wine (especially when you don't have to fuss after lecturing for over three hours)

AL

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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.