Catching up

Ok, I'm sorry.  I told you I would have the leftover recipe posted by now.... Surprise to those who know me (sarcasm) I forgot to write it down.... I do remember it, I just have to test it one more time to make sure I get the measurements accurate.

On the up side, you may have noticed some changes I my blog. I'm trying to post calorie counts for all of my recipes. There are a few that I have not done yet, I have to retest the recipes to see exactly how many servings it will make. I hope this helps out those like me and Paul who are trying to be conscious of what we eat. In my cooking, I always try to focus on flavor, but also trying to only add as much butter, oil, sugar etc as needed. But still, some recipes are healthier than others, this will just be a way to help sort them out!

Also, I made risotto for Paul and I a couple days ago, and I retested my recipe.   I realized that I needed to make some changes to what I originally wrote.  Nothing was completely wrong, some things just needed better clarification.  Learning to write down a recipe is a learning process. I am committed to continue improving it.

Now that summer is coming to a close, I am excited to have the time to share more of my food with you, and create even more! Future posts will include, duck, fish, beer bird, fruit crisps and more. I'm finishing up my busy work schedule now, so still have quite a few no cook dinners like this one.  Mixed bag lettuce (butter lettuce and dark greens mix), Trader Joe's pear vinaigrette, and some meats and cheeses.  Very satisfying and feels more indulgent than it is. 

I have a close friend that loves layer dips and horseradish. Right now my biggest creativity project is trying to come up with a way to change a Mexican style 7 layer dip into a healthy dip with horseradish. That one is still a long way from a completed recipe, but something to look forward to if you like horseradish like I do!

More posts soon.  I am so excited by the response I have gotten by this blog.  Thank you guys for your interest.  It's so cool to hear that I have people I've never even met checking in to see the new recipes.  Friend or stranger, leave a comment and tell me what kind of food you like.

Not your average chicken soup

I have a friend from Venezuela.  She is an amazing cook.  She cooks the dishes that she grew up making all the time at home. What is simple everyday food to her is very exciting often complex tasting food for us here in the states. She made this great soup the other week with chicken and vegetables in it.  I asked her how she made it and the "recipe" she gave me was pretty similar to how she talks about any dish she makes.  It went something like, you use veggies, onions, leeks, peppers, green onions, potatoes, you cook the veggies with the chicken, then blend the veggies. Now when she does that it turns out great, I however need a little trial and error to turn her recipe into a dish.

Instead of trying to follow her vague but great recipe, I decided to make my own soup, similar to hers, but more spring like with fresh favors of the season. It did not turn out to be anything like my goal, so I will have to keep working on a recipe for the soup idea in my head but, what I did get though was a very happy accident. I got a soup filled with vegetables, that is super tasty and healthy.

The chicken and potatoes make it a hearty meal, while all the veggies make it taste fresh enough for spring and summer eating. You can really taste the peppers, but since the broth is blended, it makes eating your vegetables a easy and fun thing to do! Here is what I did.


 Summer vegetable chicken soup

2 chicken breasts, skinless bone in
5 green onions whites and greens roughly chopped
1 lbs peppers, mixed colors ( I used bagged frozen because it was cheaper that week)
1 sm- med onion cut in half
3 leeks, thoroughly rinsed and chopped
1/2 -1 jalapeño seeded
3 small- med baking potatoes (whole)
2-3 ears of corn cut in half or thirds, but corn still on hull
4 cups of water
Salt and pepper
Small pinch red chili flakes
1 pinch oregano

 Place the chicken and potatoes on the bottom of a large stock pot to ensure they get cooked evenly. Add all other ingredients except for corn.  Add about 4 cups water, it should just completely cover all ingredients in pot.   Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Simmer about 20-30 minutes, until chicken is cooked, and potatoes are tender. Remove chicken and potatoes from pot let cool slightly. Blend remaining ingredients until smooth with a stick blender, or move to blender and blend. When broth is smooth add it back to pot and add corn. Let simmer. When chicken and potatoes are cool enough to handle, shred chicken, and chop potatoes into about 1/2 inch cubes and add back to pot. Soup will be ready to serve immediately or kept warm on stove until serving time.

The great thing about this recipe is that it is so flexible.  If you don't have leeks, or don't want to buy them, leave them out.  If you have some carrots and/or celery sitting in your fridge that you need to use up, toss them in too!

This makes a lot, I know, but the leftovers are great.  Later this week I will post what I did with some of the leftovers I had, personally, I think it was even better tasting than the initial soup!


oh..... and about the corn.  So when I first had this dish, it was with a large group of people.  None of us seemed to know what do do with the large chunks of corn, most of us scooped around them.  Finally someone braved picking it out of the soup broth and eating it like corn on the cob.  A little messy, yes, but oh so good!  Now I get as many pieces of corn in my bowl as possible!

Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese

Paul has been out of town a couple times for work lately.  I miss him when he is gone, but I often make it a special time for me. Time to watch a chick flick, to get things done at my own, slower pace, and especially, to eat something special.  I eat something that either he doesn't like, or something he can't eat with his allergies. And well, he doesn't like jalapeños... Crazy, I know.  I love jalapeños!  More than just jalapeños I love jalapeño poppers! I like that crispy outside, with the creamy cheesy inside, and that really spicy kick. They just might encompass everything about a perfect food!


Here's my problem with jalapeño poppers. One, I don't really deep fry foods. Once every couple of years for a special occasion, but it's a lot of work, mess, and hot oil, not to mention not the most figure friendly. There are so many good foods that don't require frying, I just stick to eating to occasional fried food at a restaurant. Two ( that was a long one) you can't really make a meal out of just the poppers. I have found the solution!  Jalapeño popper GRILLED CHEESE!

Ok, so I cannot take credit for this recipe, I got the idea watching Jeff Mauro on Best Thing I Ever Made on Food Network. He made this sandwich, but with mascarpone cheese. I love mascarpone, but I didn't want to buy a whole tub just for a sandwich, and it is pretty rich, not an everyday food for me.   My solution, goat cheese! So here it is. You can easily make this gluten free by using gluten free bread.   Paul likes Udi's.


Jalapeño Popper grilled cheese 
Quantity per sandwich

2 slices good hearty bread, your choice 
1/2-1 roasted jalapeño seeds removed, chopped 
About 1 oz goat cheese 
Small handful grated cheddar cheese 
Butter 
Olive oil 
Salt 

Toss peppers with olive and salt and roast in 450 oven for 5-10 minutes until charred and softened.  Let cool.  When cool enough to handle, peel off some of the skin (you don't need to get all of it, some left on is fine.)  If you want to make it easier to take off the jalapeño skin, you can put it in a ziptop bag, or in a sealed bowl while it is cooling.  It does make it easier, personally, I think it created more dishes/mess than it helps out.  Take out seeds and chop.  Be careful of the heat from the oils on your hands, wear food grade plastic gloves, or just make sure not to touch your eyes for a while afterwards.  Use 1/2 to one whole pepper per sandwich depending on the heat of the pepper, and your preference.  After prepping the jalapeño, it goes together just like any other grilled cheese.

Spread the goat cheese on one side of the bread, top that with the jalapeño pieces, a handful of cheddar cheese, and you top slice of bread.  You can butter the bread before putting it in the skillet, or sometimes I just butter the skillet, then put the bread down right away.  It's my I'm feeling lazy version...  I've also found I can use less butter that way, if I put just enough down so the bread doesn't stick to the pan.

The finished product will get you wanting to make another sandwich right away.  It did for me, and a second sandwich is what I had.  The goat cheese makes a really creamy rich texture to contrast the spicy charred jalapeño.  The buttery toasted bread adds that crunch, and everything together really does taste like a jalapeño popper.  Enjoy!

Alison 


For those like me watching what and how much they eat, I'm working on calculating calories per serving for my dishes.  The calories will depend on the amount of cheese and butter used, but mine calculated out to 405 calories per sandwich.