Tortilla Soup

I have never made this before so I looked at a whole bunch of recipes and improvised. It was very good. Yohboh drank the broth.



Improvised Tortilla Soup

Olive oil (one turn of the pot)
One onion chopped
3 carrots chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon chili powder

4 cups chicken stock
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 can Rotel

Fresh chopped cilantro
Diced avocado
Sour Cream
Tortilla Chips

Take the first four ingredients and put in a soup pot and let brown. When the onions are translucent, add the cumin and chili powder. Cook a few more minutes or until the kitchen smells like chili. Add the stock and the chicken thighs. Crank the heat up until it boils and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Fish out the chicken thighs after 10 minutes and let cool. Add the can of Rotel. When the chicken is cool, dice it and add it back to the soup.

Serve with the cilantro, diced avocado, sour cream and chips.

The toddler liked the chips.

Salmon Croquettes

Salmon Croquettes are a good way to use left over salmon. Yohboh deep fried them. I made chili garlic mayonnaise. It was yummy.



Paula Deen makes a very nice croquette.

Chili Garlic Mayonnaise

One Tablespoon Chili Garlic Sauce (It has a green lid and a big chicken on it)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream

Mix all together. Let sit for 30 minuted to let the flavors meld. THIS IS GOOD ON EVERYTHING!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

Today is Mardi Gras. So I made gumbo. Chicken and sausage to be exact.


I put the beads in to look Mardi Gras-esque.

This is the darkest I have made the roux. I was watching Top Chef (GO CARLA!) and Hosea's gumbo was dark. So I went past my comfort point on darkness.

The toddler liked it:


For dessert we had:

Korean pears. They are honey sweet and crisp and a touch grainy. My mother gave us these.

Obama Sushi

This has been making the rounds. I had to link here because it is ART!

Burgers

So we had bacon cheese burgers with chili cheese fries and home grown Brussels Sprouts for dinner.



This is the toddler's dinner.

She ate Brussels!

Guess what we had for dinner?

Hello Kitty Happiness

Behold my Hello Kitty Fruit and Vegetable Stamper at work:



Here is a group of them:


Here is the toddler's snack:

Getting JigGae with it

Actually, I had a totally different name for this dedicated to my sister and my brother in law who are newlyweds because I made kimchee jiggae with knockwurst and bacon. It seemed a symbol of their marriage recognizing their backgrounds and it was tasty. But the above title made me smile.


I made the recipe up for this. It was good.


The toddler ate it.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Yohboh and I like to eat in for dinner. We like restaurants but we are trying to be frugal so we made an elaborate meal at home.


That is from noon going clockwise:
Italian Bread with fancy butter
Small Bay Scallops
Large Scallops
Braised Short Ribs
Lobster Tail
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Shitake Mushrooms
Beet Greens
Roasted Beets

and for dessert:

Yohboh made a chocolate souffle.

Popcorn the old school way

I was reading on Ruhlman about his popcorn and how he does it the old school way. And I got to thinking that I when I was a kid before we had an air popper or a microwave (the microwave had a dial), we used to make popcorn like this.

So I bought 2 pounds of popcorn (!!!) for 1.49 and took about four ounces and made it the old school way with oil and a pot and some serious shaking.

Did you know that the microwave stuff is about 33-67 cents a bag? Each bag is four ounces of unpopped corn give or take a bit. Four ounces of old school popcorn is 19 cents. And there were seven kernels unpopped. I am trying to be economical. Also, since I have had a kid I am trying to make sure the food we eat is not full of things that we should not be eating.

More importantly, it tastes a lot better. In the picture above I took cold butter and used a vegetable slicer to make some thin slices to put on the hot popcorn. That was successful. I also used Kosher salt because that is what I had on hand. Yohboh and I ate this standing up, before dinner.

DBW told me that KC uses cheese powder (From the blue box mac and cheese) to season her corn. THAT SOUNDS AWESOME. As Ruhlman suggest, do this often--you will wonder why you ate it out of a microwave bag.

Black Beans for the economy

I used to hate cooking with dried beans. It took foresight to make them. I would have to soak them the night before and what not. Well, in the new frugal economy, I made them because they are SO CHEAP.

This is what I did tonight

Minjenah's Black Beans

Eight ounces of black beans, soaked in water overnight, DO NOT DRAIN

2 stalks of celery, chopped to about the size of the soaked bean
3 carrots, chopped to about the size of the soaked bean
Three cloves of garlic, smashed
Oregano, Fresh 20 leaves (Herb Gardens rock!)
Olive oil

Chicken base
Water

Salt
Pepper
Cilantro stems
Lime Juice

Take the olive oil and put some in a pot. I used my five quart pot. Add the celery and carrots (I normally use onions too but we had no onions and WE MAKE DO IN THIS ECONOMY)and garlic. Brown until it is fragrant (ten minutes).

In the meantime, mix the chicken base with the soaked beans. Chicken base is a cheater item. I use it to add a salty oomph to foods that would taste weird with soy sauce. It will not dissolve completely but you tried. Add the bean mixture to the browned veggies.

Bring to a boil and let simmer for a while. I let it simmer all afternoon. The beans should be soft but not mush. Right before you serve it, taste it to see if it needs salt and pepper. It will probably not need too much salt since you used the chicken base but I like a lot of pepper. Then add cilantro stems. Stir in quickly and serve with rice. Put a wedge of lime on the side. I also added some sour cream because I really like dairy.

Makes a LOT.

Oh and the toddler LOVED it.


This is her asking for more.

This is Why You're Fat

This is why you're fat.

I gotta say, that the The Double Bacon Hamburger Fatty Melt looks good.

GIVEAWAY

My friend Kia has a really great bento blog. I love how artistic she is with her children's lunches. So she is hosting a giveaway. If you are in the US, sign up! You may get some cool stuff!

What I had for dinner

Pork Roast


Stir Fried Veggies

I do not understand people who eat mushy broccoli.

Knockwurst and Braised Cabbage

I made knockwurst and braised cabbage because I had some knockwurst and cabbage. I looked at a few photos on the internet and kinda winged it. Here are some photos:









It was yucky......

I have brief, bitingly funny commentary

So I have been in actual press! John Kessler said I have brief, bitingly funny commentary.

It sounds like my person as well.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry

So in the midst of all this Super Bowl nonsense, many people talk about the food they will make. Me, I made chocolate covered strawberries.

All is right in the world when eating them.