Guest Post: Aurelia B Rowl with a New Book and Mushroom Soup!

Today, I welcome author Aurelia B Rowl, with a quick and easy Mushroom Soup recipe and a new book with an awesome cover (and I love that title, too!).

About CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED:

 

Matilda 'Tilly' Carter didn't think her day could get any worse, but even Christmas had just been cancelled.

The one girl Dean Watson has sworn never to have—never even expected to see again—just flared back into his life and into his home—his sanctuary—like she belonged there. Christmas would certainly be more bearable with Tilly around though…

As the chinks in Dean's armor appear, Tilly seizes the chance to win her knight once and for all. She's not about to take no for answer—not this time—but Dean must resist, even as his heart rebels and temptation threatens to undermine his resolve.

Win or lose? Love or honor? Which will Dean choose? Assuming he gets a choice…

 

FROM CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED:

 

Tears welled in her eyes, clouding her vision. She turned and wandered blindly toward the exit as the first tear escaped, forging a track down her cheek for the rest to follow. Tilly took in a lungful of air and then another. Having made a spectacle of herself once already, she really didn't want to be the cause of yet another scene.

The crowds swarmed around her, with students and family members heading home for the holidays only adding to the usual rush-hour melee of commuters. They jostled past, threatening to swallow her whole, as they rushed en mass in the opposite direction, using their briefcases and suitcases as a battering ram.

It was suffocating. She had to get out of there. Breaking into a run, broken heel or not, she raced through the doors and out into the biting December chill. Her waterlogged eyes struggled to adjust to the dark, dreary sky after the bright station lights, but she didn't dare slow down, desperate to escape the throng of festivities and merriment.

Carol singers assembled outside burst into a jovial rendition of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," full of joy and happiness. Didn't they know Christmas had just been cancelled?

"Ooof!" Tilly smacked her shin against the edge of a low bench, too dark to see as she tried to dodge the growing audience. She ended up sprawled across the bench, dropping the handle of her suitcase with a loud clatter.

At least the pain shooting down her leg gave her an excuse to be crying. Unfortunately, it meant she had to stop running too. Not good. Whenever things got too tough, too intimate, or too confrontational, you could rely on her to make a run for it. Running away was what she did best...

A tall figure loomed in the edge of her vision, something vaguely familiar about the man's loping gait. In an effort to see him more clearly, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, then cringed inwardly at the black streaks now etched all over them. Great. She could add impersonating a panda to her day from hell as well then.

The mascara stung her eyes, rendering her unable to focus properly. She blinked furiously as the man strode past her, talking into a mobile phone in a deep voice that resonated throughout her body and made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. A surge of adrenaline rushed to her legs, numbing the pain as her subconscious told her to run. Now! 

The cloaked figure stopped mid-stride as if he'd heard her gasp. "Mike, I've gotta go," he barked into the phone, hanging up instantly. He backtracked until he was standing right in front of her, his tone changing from a growl to one of surprise. "Basmati?"

Great. She hadn't heard the nickname for years—nine years, four months and...sixteen days, to be exact—and even then, only one person had ever actually used it. She screwed her eyes tightly shut, shaking her head from side to side. No. No way. There was absolutely no way this could be happening to her. Not now. Not today of all days... Talk about kicking a girl when she was down. Buy the book here!

 

Aurelia’s Oh-So-Simple Creamy Mushroom Soup

 This soup is so deliciously creamy and tasty, yet ridiculously easy to prepare. It can even be prepared in advance, then reheated immediately prior to serving, so is ideal for dinner parties.

 

Ingredients:

Mushrooms 1lb or more – chopped (I like to include a few field mushrooms for their colour)

Cream ¼ pint

Milk 1 pint

Plain flour 1½oz

Butter 2oz

Vegetable stock ½ pint

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the mushrooms and cook for three minutes.
Sprinkle over the flour, then stir to coat the mushrooms. Stir in the vegetable stock and the milk, then bring slowly to the boil.Simmer for five-to-ten minutes.

Allow to cool, then blend – if you like your soup chunky, only blend half.

(At this point you can store soup in the fridge to reheat later) Return to the pan, then add the cream and reheat.
Serve immediately. (Delicious with fresh, warm crusty bread).

 

Thanks so much for visiting, Aurelia! Love the recipe!

Shirley

Perfect for Fall's Chill: Oven Baked Beef Stew

There's just something about fall that has me in the kitchen, cooking. I love the smells of things in the oven, love hunkering down with my loved ones and enjoying a dish I've made myself. This oven-baked Beef Stew is one of my all-time favorites and one of those things I crave as soon as the temperatures dip. I've made it a couple dozen times (which is a miracle in my house, because I'm always trying something new!).

Oven-Baked Beef Stew

1 pound round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes

2-3 cups red wine (I use a Shiraz, or a Merlot, something we would normally drink; enough to marinate the beef)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 pound carrots, chopped
2 small onions, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups red wine (same wine; but NOT the wine in the marinade; I basically dump the rest of the bottle in)
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup cold water
3 tablespoons corn starch

Marinate the beef in a zip-lock bag for 1 to 3 hours, depending on when you remember to start this ;-). Remove from marinade, then heat olive oil and cook beef until browned. Remove from pan. Cook garlic and vegetables until browned, remove from pan. Melt butter, add flour and make a roux (the base for a sauce, if you don't know what this is, you can go here for the basics). Add the wine gradually, stirring with a whisk. Then the chicken stock and tomato paste. Put the beef, vegetables and liquid into an oven-safe Dutch Oven or other large pot/pan and bake at 375 for two hours (you can also put this in the Crock-pot).

Just before you're ready to serve, you can thicken the stew. I like a really thick stew, so I mix the water and the corn starch, then stir this into the hot stew. It makes it nice and thick, really yummy . I serve it with biscuits and that's enough for a mega meal. Okay, this is totally not Weight Watchers friendly but when it's 25 below outside, I really don't care ;-)

 

Enjoy!

 

Shirley

Oven Baked Beef Stew

I absolutely LOVE this stew. I've made it dozens of times. The original recipe ran in Parade or one of those Sunday newspaper insert things. I've tweaked it over the years to suit my family, but it's a sure hit every time!

No pic, since I'm making it tonight, but if I remember, I'll upload a pic later.

Oven-Baked Beef Stew

1 pound round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 cups red wine (I use a Shiraz, or a Merlot, something we would normally drink)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 pound baby carrots
2 small onions, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups red wine (same wine; the recipe says to use the marinade wine; I think that's gross, so I use the rest in the bottle for the recipe)
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup cold water
3 tablespoons corn starch

Marinate the beef for 1 to 3 hours, depending on when you remember to start this ;-). Remove from marinade, then heat olive oil and cook beef until browned. Remove from pan. Cook garlic and vegetables until browned, remove from pan. Melt butter, add flour and make a roux (the base for a sauce, if you don't know what this is, you can go here for the basics). Add the wine gradually, stirring with a whisk. Then the chicken stock and tomato paste. Put the beef, vegetables and liquid into an oven-safe Dutch Oven or other large pot/pan and bake at 375 for two hours (you can also put this in the Crock-pot).

Just before you're ready to serve, you can thicken the stew. I like a really thick stew, so I mix the water and the corn starch, then stir this into the hot stew. It makes it nice and thick, really yummy . I serve it with biscuits and that's enough for a mega meal. Okay, this is totally not Weight Watchers friendly but when it's 25 below outside, I really don't care ;-)

Tonight's Dinner: Chicken and Dumplings

Tonight, I had an oldie but goodie for dinner. I used a leftover rotisserie chicken, homemade broth (I make my own and freeze it) and homemade dumplings to create Tyler Florence's Ultimate Chicken and Dumplings. When I ran the recipe in the blog before, I used chives in the dumplings, but the recent snowfall killed my chives outside, so I used parsley instead. Delicious dinner and great way to use up the leftover chicken!

Shirley

Vegetarian "Chicken" and Dumplings...w/o the Chicken ;-)

My daughter has become a vegetarian, which has made for alittle bit of a challenge in cooking. For a lot of my recipes for her, I've been using the Cooking Light Vegetarian cookbook. (Except for tonight's recipe, which came from Rachael Ray's magazine...more on that recipe in a minute).


I love the Cooking Light cookbook because it not only has the "what is it" info (like what is tempeh) but also step-by-step directions that go straight back to the basics of cooking. It shows you how to prepare tofu, what to do with lentils, even slicing tomatoes (perfect for my child, who needed help making a three-ingredient panini, LOL). When she goes off to college, I'm packing this for her...and hoping she cooks from this instead opening a can of raviolis ;-)


Anyway, before the vegetarian days, her favorite soup was Chicken and Dumpling. I couldn't do that, so when I saw a vegetarian version in Rachael Ray Magazine, I had to try it.


I followed the recipe to a T...except I mixed in a mixture of parsley and this new freeze-dried dill (have you tried these? They're nearly as good as fresh, better than dried) into the dumplings. I also made double the amount of dumplings because I knew my family would love them.


Verdict--EVERYONE in the family loved it and no one noticed the chicken wasn't there. My daughter had the biggest bowl of soup I've ever seen her eat, LOL.

Shirley

Yum-bo Gumbo and Jan. 15 Speaking Engagement

Okay, lame name for this dish, LOL. Guess all my creativity got used up on the fiction writing today.

I made gumbo for the first time this week (thanks to Lori Leger for the Cajun spices!). I love Cajun food and had a great bowl of gumbo a couple weeks ago, and was dying to replicate the recipe. I took one of Emeril's (figuring he knows New Orleans cuisine pretty darn well) and added a few tweaks to it, based on the restaurant one.

Here's Emeril's recipe. The one I had at the restaurant had ham hocks in it (which to be honest, the thought of even cooking with them had me totally grossed out, but I was a trooper, and decided to try it). Emeril starts with a roux--I browned the ham hocks in a little oil first, then took them out of the pan and followed Emeril's steps. I re-added the ham hocks with the sausage (I had to use kielbasa because I couldn't find andouille sausage). I also added frozen chopped okra, to beef up the vegetables. When the gumbo was done, I removed the ham hocks but diced up the meat and put that in. I kept the spice level low so the kids could eat it, so it wasn't as spicy as the one in the restaurant, but still smelled AMAZING and tasted FAB. My son loved it (DD wasn't home that night). My husband added some hot sauce to it, to increase the level of heat, but everyone had seconds.

If you want some more Cajun recipes, check out Lori's Blog on Cajun Cooking. I'm looking forward to trying more!

I served it with homemade cornbread that I brushed with honey butter while it was still warm. A hit all around, and definitely has me looking forward to my trip to New Orleans where I'll be speaking to SOLA on "Taking a Book from Good to Sold" on January 15th. If you're in the area, join me!

Shirley

Spicy Tomato Crab Bisque-ish

I'm calling this soup a "bisque-ish" because I did add some cream to it, but not enough to push it into the bisque category. More to give it a bit of depth, without pushing it into the heavy-on-your-thighs department. I made this for lunch today (as part of my New Year's commitment to eating healthier after a LOT of cookies over the past month, LOL).

Anyway, I LOVED this soup. I had come across another recipe for it, and then read a few reviewer's comments on the soup, and decided on a few changes of my own.

Spicy Tomato Crab Bisque-ish

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 fennel bulb, fronds removed, bulb diced
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder

1 6 ounce can crab meat (or fresh if you can get it)

1/4 cup half and half
chili oil, for drizzling

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Add onions, fennel (reserve the fronds for later) and garlic. Saute 10-15 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes (do not drain them; add the sauce too) and broth. Season with salt and pepper, then add cumin and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add more broth if the soup is too thick.

I pureed the soup a bit at this point; just to make it smoother but not to totally mush up the vegetables. Then I added the crab meat, cooked it for a couple minutes, then stirred in the half and half (and FWIW, I used reduced fat half and half). Taste and season again wtih salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve with minced fennel fronds and if you like it spicy, a light drizzle of chili oil. (LIGHT, because that chili oil is spicy stuff :-)

Shirley

Soup-A-Palooza Dos

I promised yesterday to blog about Soup-a-Palooza, so here I am :-) I had held one a month or so ago with my friends--basically, I made a bunch of soups (Oven Baked Beef Stew, Spicy Thai Soup, Mexican Chicken Tortilla and French Onion) and invited over my friends, telling them to bring something to go with soup. The party was a hit--lots of different types of soups to fit each person's tastes (a beef, a chicken, an Asian and a vegetarian style), and it was fun to have something so earthy for a party.

My daughter, whose friends I normally invite to my theme nights (and had forgotten to invite to this one) asked if I'd do the same thing for her friends. Dubbed Soup-a-Palooza Dos, I let my daughter dictate the menu, and let her create the guest list. Lots of teenage girls made for lots of laughter and chatter, so it was a blast. One of them brought rolls, another made this yummy dessert Christmas bread that we baked while we were eating. I made the soups and the Macadamia Nut Yummies.

I served three soups: Chicken and Dumpling, which I've put on the blog before, Tomato Tortellini, also a previous blog appearer, and a new one--Lemon Chicken Rice (a Greek soup, aka Avgolemono). My dear friend Tori Carrington (a husband-wife writing duo) makes this all the time and said that I had to make a long kissing sound while adding the egg mixture to the soup or it would be ruined (I love those kinds of quirky customs). Since the soup was a hit (two of the girls took home leftovers), I think the kissing noise paid off ;-)

Before I made the two chicken based soups, I made a Simple Chicken Stock:

1 whole chicken
1 onion, peeled and halved
1 full head of garlic, halved
4-6 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4-6 black peppercorns

Put chicken in a stockpot or dutch oven. Add other ingredients. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for one hour. Remove the chicken and shred the meat. Strain the stock and use in soups or freeze to use later.

Trust me, it makes a HUGE difference to use homemade stock. And it seasoned the chicken nicely, so it tasted perfect in the chicken and dumpling soup and the Lemon Chicken Rice Soup. It only takes a minute to put a stock together, and just a little over an hour to cook. Do it a couple days before if you want. I've even made it in the Crock-Pot (turning the CP to High).


Easy Avgolemono Soup (Greek Lemon Chicken Rice Soup)

6 cups chicken broth (reserve extra for later; the rice expands and I added a cup of stock at the end)
1 cup long grain rice
2 eggs
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon (reserve other half to add more lemon juice if you need it)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

Bring stock to a boil, add rice, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 20 minutes, until rice is tender. Add the chicken, then make the egg mixture (it will thicken the soup and give it a nice, creamy texture).

Separate the eggs. Whisk the whites until they're frothy, then add in the yolks and the lemon juice. Add one cup of hot cooking liquid, whisk, then add another cup. Pour egg mixture into the soup (making that kissing sound if you want). Season with salt and pepper, add parsley. Serve.

Shirley

Perfect for a Snowy Day...

We got our first real snowfall of the season this weekend. Not a ton of snow--just enough for DH to break in the new snowblower and to dust everything with a pretty coating of white. And just enough to make my White Chicken Chili the perfect dinner for today :-)

I've run the recipe before on the blog, but thought it was a good time to run it again. I added my notes for what tweaks I made today.

White Chicken Chili

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup green pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons pickled jalapeno (comes in a jar in the Mexican food aisle), chopped (NOTE: I didn't have any of that on hand today, so I used a small can of diced green chilies)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or regular; I just prefer to cook with kosher)
2 cups chicken broth (I used the homemade broth I make)

2 15-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained
1 pound cooked chicken, shredded (I didn't have any already cooked, so I poached a couple breasts in some water seasoned with salt and pepper)
1/2 cup whipping cream (I use half and half)

Heat oil in a large pot (like a Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add onion, green pepper and jalapeno. Saute about 4 minutes, until soft and onion is translucent. Add garlic and spices. Cook for one minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add vegetables, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until vegetables are tender. Add beans and chicken and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and cook until heated through.

Shirley

Ultimate Chicken and Dumplings

I've been craving this recipe for a while, ever since I saw Tyler Florence make this on "Tyler's Ultimate." I love chicken soup. Love dumplings. Love having all that in one big bowl :-)

The reviews on this recipe are raves, and I have to agree. It was so yummy...such simple comfort food. It was my daughter's first day of school today and I wanted to make something that said "welcome home, honey." This was it. She had two bowls (and so did I).

I already had homemade chicken stock (I use Ina Garten's recipe) but only had four cups in my freezer, so I cut down Tyler's recipe for stock a bit just to poach my chicken (I had some poached from making the Chicken Au Jus the other day (I used bone-in breasts instead of wings) so I only had to poach one more (instead of a whole chicken like the recipe called for).

Tyler Florences's Ultimate Chicken and Dumplings:

Chicken and Stock:
1 (3 to 31/2 pound) whole organic chicken
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
4 to 5 black peppercorns
1 head garlic, split through the equator
2 tablespoons salt

Buttermilk-Chive Dumplings:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped chives
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk

Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons oil
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen pearl onions
1/4 cup heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish
Chopped chives, for garnish

I started this around 3:30, for eating a little after 5. It took a bit longer than I expected, but not much. Just a side note for folks :-)

Place the chicken and all stock ingredients in a large Dutch oven and cover with water. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour until the chicken is tender. Skim the surface of fat and scum as it cooks.

When done remove the chicken to a cutting board. Strain the stock and shred the meat into big pieces - the stock will be used for the sauce and the chicken will be folded into it.

NOTE: About 15 minutes before it's done, start the other steps. Otherwise, you'll be behind on the estimated time it takes to cook this.

Make dumplings. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, using a whisk, lightly beat the eggs, chives and buttermilk together; pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together; the batter should be thick and cake-like. (NOTE: I ended up using the full cup of buttermilk. This makes about twice as much dumpling batter as you need, but they're so darn good, I'm thinking about cooking all of it)

To prepare sauce: In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, add the butter and oil. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, (NOTE: I didn't have any frozen pearl onions so I chopped one onion and added it here. Also, I only had frozen pea and carrot mix so I skipped carrots here and added the bag of veggies at the end) and bay leaves and saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes to coat the flour and remove the starchy taste. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. (NOTE: This is a critical step--do it one cup at a time so it has time to thicken. In the end, I did add a small amount of cornstarch slurry to thicken even more). Add frozen peas and pearl onions.

Let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Stir in heavy cream. (NOTE: I don't always have heavy cream on hand but had half-and-half and that seemed to work out okay).

Fold the reserved shredded chicken into the sauce and bring up to a simmer. Using 2 spoons (NOTE: you do want to do it this way...scoop with one spoon, scoop off it with the other, scoop with first spoon one more time to drop the dumplings in), carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be touching or crowded. Let the dumplings poach for 10 to 15 minutes until they are firm and puffy (NOTE: turn the dumplings over halfway through to cook on all sides). Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season with freshly cracked black pepper (NOTE: I also seasoned with a little more salt) and garnish with chopped chives before serving.

This was really good and my daughter said should go in the "keeper" folder. Ina, Giada and Tyler never let me down when I cook their recipes, and this recipe is no exception. I'll be making it often :-)

One tip--you can make homemade chicken stock VERY easily and anytime you need it if you just keep the bones from your chickens in the freezer. Bring home a rotisserie chicken? Save the carcass in a freezer bag until you're ready to make stock. I usually double my stock recipe (using two chicken carcasses) and make enough to freeze the stock in 2-cup containers so I always have fresh stock on hand for cooking.

Shirley

Spicy Butternut Squash Bisque

I love squash. I think I'm one of the only people in my family who loves it, but hey, more for me ;-). So when I read this recipe for a Butternut Squash Bisque, I thought yum. I mean, who doesn't like bisque?

Okay, maybe some people, LOL. I love it personally.

I should have been smart and read the reviews/comments first for this bisque. As I was making it and adding the chipolte peppers, I was thinking, "man, this is going to be spicy." But I figured, hey, it was a Better Homes and Gardens recipe, how spicy could it be?

FIRE. That's how spicy. I mean, I like spicy food. Love buffalo wings, love salsa. But this soup, even after I REMOVED the chipoltes halfway through was FIRE.

So, if you're going to make this, I recommend only using one or a half of a chipolte pepper or using some cayenne pepper instead. I ended up tempering the fire (some) with extra cream and sour cream. But it was still SO spicy.

Spicy-good, though, I do have to say. This was a DELICIOUS soup, even with the super spicy part. I added smoked applewood cheddar to it, and had, uh, five bowls over the course of two days ;-) So it wasn't intolerably hot (but boy, was I glad I removed the chipoltes early on. If I had left them in and blended them in...it would have been inedible, IMO) but VERY spicy.

I used 1 fresh butternut squash, 2 honeycrisp apples (since those were what I had in my kitchen), apple juice (didn't have any cider) and the only-added-for-a-few-minutes chipoltes. Other than that, I used all the ingredients listed in the original recipe.

This is REALLY yummy, so I will be making it again. Just with less heat ;-)

Shirley

A Day for Soup

My daughter is sick (just a cold, not the flu). She requested I make homemade chicken noodle soup. Apparently the Tomato Tortellini Soup the other day wasn't enough, LOL.

So, being a good mommy, I roasted some whole chicken breasts, got some stock I'd made before out of the freezer, and made homemade chicken noodle soup, complete with the thick Inn-Maid noodles she likes.

She's having her second or third bowl right now :-)

Then for dinner, she wanted Chicken and Dumplings, and I had just caught Tyler Florence's version on Tyler's Ultimate. So when I was done with the soup, I took the bones from the roasted chicken and made another stock (using Ina Garten's recipe, which is hands-down the best stock recipe I've ever encountered). Then used that to make the Tyler Florence Chicken and Dumplings.

FYI, his recipe calls for buttermilk, something I rarely have on hand (why can't they sell TEENY ones of that, like they do heavy cream? I always end up wasting so much of it). Anyway, I have the powdered buttermilk mix, which works just great, IMO.

No picture of the chicken and dumplings because my family was, quite literally, lined up at the stove the second I turned it off. We ate the whole pot in one night :-).

If you're interested, here's what I put in my chicken noodle soup:

Shirley's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

2 whole chicken breasts, roasted at 375 degrees until cooked through, then meat is shredded
2 celery sticks
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups homemade chicken stock
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 package Inn-Maid egg noodles

Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven. Add vegetables, cook until wilted. Add stock and bay leaves (I don't add other seasonings because my stock recipe is pretty well seasoned). Add freshly ground pepper and salt as needed to taste.

When vegetables are cooked through, add shredded chicken. Bring soup to a boil, add noodles and cook until noodles are tender--about 8 minutes or so.

The key to a great soup is the stock, IMO. A lot of people I know don't like to make homemade chicken (or beef) stock, but honestly it makes such a HUGE difference, it's worth it. If I don't make it the day I roast a chicken, then I save the bones in a bag in the freezer and make it later. It's truly an easy thing to make, and you just freeze the stock in small quantities (I do 1-cup, 2-cup and one big 6-cup; I generally make two batches of stock at once. I find the variety of sizes makes it easy when I need a cup for a recipe).

I love, love, love, Ina Garten's recipe for stock, as I mentioned. I love pretty much everything she makes. Her cookbooks are on my Christmas list, for sure (the only one I own is Barefoot Contessa At Home). And did you know, you can get them AUTOGRAPHED? That's what I want, cooking geek that I am. Sadly, I don't think my family reads my blog, LOL.

Anyway, soup is perfect for a cold, icky day!

Shirley

Quick and Easy and Yummy: Soup

Last night, I wanted something quick and easy and good for my daughter's cold. I love soup, particularly nice hearty soups, and opted to make the Tomato Tortellini I have made before. DD really wanted chicken noodle, but homemade chicken noodle isn't exactly a speedy soup, LOL. So I promised that for next week.

With the Tomato Tortellini Soup, I didn't have any fresh basil on hand, but did have these cool frozen chopped basil cubes I bought at Trader Joe's (I LOVE THAT STORE. Why won't they bring one to my city? And while they're at it, a Whole Foods. SIGH). They worked out great.

So if you're looking for something quick and easy, try this soup. One tip--if you want the soup to look red and tomato-y at the end, reserve the tomato sauce and cream until after you have blended the soup, then add them. It'll add that extra boost of red that gets blended in when you whirr up the spinach.

Enjoy!

Shirley

Mexican Chicken Soup You'll Be Talking About

I love soup. Something about it...the simplicity of it, I suppose. I'm not always wild about making it. I mean, soup can have a lot of steps. Not all of them are just dump and walk away, KWIM?

This soup, which I have made several times, has lots of steps but let me tell you...

They are worth the work. This recipe is another Ina Garten one (my goodness, I think I'm turning into her clone ;-) and I have to say the end result looks better than my picture and hers. Go the extra mile and use homemade chicken stock. It's SO WORTH IT. And listen to the Barefoot Contessa and roast those chicken breasts. You'll be glad you did.

You don't have to roast them the day you make the soup. I often roast several chicken breasts at a time when I'm making dinner and freeze the extra. And when I make stock, I make a TON. I have this huge stock pot that is supposed to be for canning (though I have good intentions of getting around to canning, I never do, so I use it for stock making instead) and from that, I can get a good 20 cups of stock. I freeze it in small, varied size batches for different applications. Six cups for soup, one cup for other recipes, two cups for sauces.

I don't have coriander, so I don't put that in. It's one of those can't-ever-find-it-in-Kroger things, so I don't have it. I just use extra cilantro. And sometimes instead of one 28-ounce can of pureed tomatoes, I'll use two 14-ounce diced Mexican flavored tomatoes. Yeah, I know. I live dangerously ;-)

Get the fresh cilantro, and also do the fresh tortillas for a garnish. It really tastes super yummy. You'll be glad you did. In fact, I'm never sorry I splurged on a few fresh ingredients!

Now that it's warmer out, the stores are starting to carry potted herbs, so you can just buy a basil plant or a parsley, or a cilantro if you're going to use a lot of it...keep it in the window, it'll smell nice, look nice and be there when you need it!

I served this soup to guests for a Mexican night and it was such a big hit, they asked for the recipe and made it at their house a few days later :-)

Shirley

A Perfect Lunch With Friends

[side note: for the writers out there, I'm starting a new workshop on my Just Write It list about conflict and emotion. Join if you write fiction and are interested!]

I had four friends over to the new house yesterday for lunch and it was wonderful. The company was fabulous (can't wait to have you all back, Julie, Cathy, Marci and Kayleen!) and the food turned out great, despite lots of stress on my part, LOL.

In case you're wondering, here's what I made:

Appetizer: Olive Medley Pinwheels (they were an award-winning Better Homes and Gardens recipe...the only problem I had was finding an olive bar at my local grocery store, so I ended up having to use canned olives. Sigh. Don't get me started again on my local grocery stores)

Beverage: Pomegranate Fizz: I saw this on Barefoot Contessa the other day and thought it looked good. I read the recipe on Food Network, then read all the comments and took people's advice. I added a full bottle of Pom Pomegranate Juice, to 3 1/2 cups of Sparkling Water (a one-third to two-third ration...the FN recipe has the wrong quantities; I saw that episode too and she did say and make 1/3 to 2/3s), then only squeezed in one half of a lime. I also added about a tablespoon or so of granulated Splenda (since I had that on hand and didn't see the need to buy Superfine sugar just for this). I didn't bother with the lime slices because I served it in champagne flutes.

Meal: Insalata Rustica (I totally love this salad. This time, I skipped the dried cherries, as people have said in the comments at Bon Appetit. I also didn't add mozzarella chunks because DH ate all the mozzarella, LOL. And...this time, I accidentally baked the grapes for like 40 minutes, and they were SO much sweeter. They were halfway to raisins and they were just SO yummy. Next time, I'll do them that long again. I had just enough salad left over for lunch the next day too and it was just as good the next day ;-).

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup with Spinach: this one was a recipe I kind of invented, after reading a "healthy" tomato tortellini and deciding it was too healthy, LOL.

French Bread with Parmesan Garlic Spread (I bought the bread and spread...had good intentions to bake from scratch but I ran out of time).

Dessert: Carrot-Cake Cupcakes...of course ;-)

A few tips for hosting something like this -- I did it up fancy, because...I wanted to. When my husband and I bought our dining room table, my daughter said it would be such a waste because no one ever uses their dining room except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am SO not one of those people. I love eating in the dining room. Not just for parties, but with the family, too. We've eaten in there as a family a few times already, and after I get an easier-to-wash tablecloth, LOL, we'll be there more often.

I set the table the night before, got out the fancy silverware and the nice napkins. The wine glasses for ice water and the champagne flutes for the pomegranate drink. Really, how much more work is that? My dishwasher has wine stem holder thingies, so it's just as easy to wash those in there as it is regular glasses. And everyone gets a chance to feel special for an afternoon.

My friends asked me for the soup recipe (everyone had seconds and thirds). I haven't taken a picture of it even though I've made it twice, once for me to test the recipe I invented (I made it when I was sick and forgot) and then yesterday. I was going to photograph the last bowl, but then DH ate it, LOL.

This makes a big Dutch oven's worth of soup, so you have plenty of soup to eat. It's VERY good, IMO.

Don't skimp and use non-fresh ingredients in the places where it calls for fresh. The fresh makes a HUGE difference in the taste, believe me.

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup with Spinach

1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, Italian style
2 large basil leaves (fresh) or 4 small, chopped
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
8 ounces fresh Spinach leaves
8 ounces frozen Tortellini stuffed with cheese
1/2 cup heavy (or whipping) cream

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven (or similar pot). Add onion and garlic, cook and stir until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, basil, tomato sauce and paste. Bring to a boil and add Parmesan cheese. Add spinach leaves.

Using a hand blender (or a regular blender if you're not a clumsy person and can pour, blend, pour back), puree the soup in the pan. I know that sounds intimidating, but the trick to doing that is starting on low, with the base of the hand blender on the bottom of the pan. As you get more pureed and get more confident, you can turn up the speed. Puree until all the chunks of tomato are smooth, the spinach is minced, and the soup is well blended. Add tortellini and cook about 6 minutes, until tortellini is cooked through. Stir in heavy cream (add more if you want the soup to be creamier) and cook until heated through. Serve.

That's it! Start to finish, this soup takes...maybe 30 minutes, if that. It's really easy. And REALLY good. Not to mention good for you (except the heavy cream, but hey, life needs a little fat here and there ;-)

Shirley

Wild About This Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

I thought my favorite soup was Mamma Pagliano's My-Daughter-is-Never-Gonna-Get-Married-Italian Wedding Soup from my book, The Devil Served Tortellini.

But I think I have a new favorite now :-)

I tried this Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup from the Rachael Ray magazine and totally loved it. I went to several stores to find dried mushrooms (one of these days, a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe's will be built near me...that is my dream...are you reading this, Whole Foods people? Hey, Trader Joe's folks!). Anyway, no dried mushrooms.

So I substituted by frying a few. I had two different sizes of button mushrooms and I took the smaller ones, sliced them and fried them in olive oil until they were caramelized, then added them to the pot in lieu of the dried mushrooms. It worked out just fine :-)

I've had this for dinner twice (tonight was leftover night...I grabbed this container first) and for lunch. Loved it all three times.

Here's the link to the recipe. Since it's Miss Rachael's, I can't copy it here (copyright infringement and all).

Two hints -- DO use homemade chicken stock. It's worth the effort. I usually bake a chicken or two, hold onto the bones and then make stock one day when I'm home all day. If I do two chickens at a time, I can get a good 12 cups of stock out of that. I freeze it in different size containers (marked ;-) for different uses: 1 cup, 2 cup and 6 cup. This recipe uses 6 cups, and that's the last container I had left in my freezer.

Also, DO think ahead and roast an extra chicken when you make chicken sometime. It's easy enough to do two (I just put them side by side on the pan). The one I roasted for this I used in two other dishes. This week, I made a cherry roasted chicken, then the second one. On the extra, basically, I put sage, thyme, a little lemon, and a half an onion inside the chicken. Rubbed the outside with kosher salt and pepper. You can strip the chicken and freeze the bits, or just use them throughout the next few days for different dinners.

If it's still winter where you are, try this soup. It's a great cozy, comfy meal :-)


Shirley

Every Time is Exciting

My latest book is in stores as of yesterday and as I wrote on my Amazon Connect blog, every time I see one on shelves, it's a really exciting event. I *still* can't believe that's my book I'm seeing. Still can't believe I wrote that book and still can't believe someone actually published it. And when a fan writes me e-mail, I still can't believe someone actually wrote to me.

It's weird. Authors, well, at least this author ;-), write books, NEVER expecting anyone to actually READ them. When someone does and then writes to me, telling me they liked it (hopefully saying that, LOL), I am truly stunned.

So, to see the book in bookstores is as exciting as it was when I saw my first book in stores. I have a signing at the Valparaiso, Indiana Barnes and Noble on Saturday from 11 to 1 p.m. CST on this Saturday (if you're nearby, come on by and say hi and get a free pen ) and you can bet I'll be marveling at the book, still stunned that I'm actually holding those words I penned back in September 2005.

I've been offline for a couple days, battling another migraine (ugh, ugh, ugh). But better today and back at work. I did get to the gym for three days in a row. Got on the elliptical machine, did some weights. Felt pretty good. I skipped yesterday because the weather was so hideous (the wind chill here was 25 below zero) that I wasn't going to even get out of the car unless someone paid me ;-). But that meant I ended up cheating and eating a ton of Cheez-Its and graham crackers, which showed on the scale, so back at it today.

However, because of the cold, I did make my all-time favorite cold weather meal. Beef stew. This is not your ordinary beef stew. It is a kick-butt beef stew to beat all beef stews. Yum-O, as Rachael Ray would say ;-). I got the recipe from a Parade magazine years ago and tweaked it over the years to be my own.

Oven-Baked Beef Stew

1 pound round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes

3 cups red wine (I use a Shiraz, or a Merlot, something we would normally drink)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 pound baby carrots

2 small onions, chopped

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups red wine (same wine; the recipe says to use the marinade wine; I think that's gross, so I use the rest in the bottle for the recipe)

3 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup cold water

3 tablespoons corn starch

Marinate the beef for 1 to 3 hours, depending on when you remember to start this ;-). Remove from marinade, then heat olive oil and cook beef until browned. Remove from pan. Cook garlic and vegetables until browned, remove from pan. Melt butter, add flour and make a roux (the base for a sauce, if you don't know what this is, you can go here for the basics). Add the wine gradually, stirring with a whisk. Then the chicken stock and tomato paste. Put the beef, vegetables and liquid into an oven-safe Dutch Oven or other large pot/pan and bake at 375 for two hours (you can also put this in the Crock-pot).

Just before you're ready to serve, you can thicken the stew. I like a really thick stew, so I mix the water and the corn starch, then stir this into the hot stew. It makes it nice and thick, really yummy . I serve it with biscuits and that's enough for a mega meal. Okay, this is totally not Weight Watchers friendly but when it's 25 below outside, I really don't care ;-)

Have a great day and stay warm!

Shirley

Bonus Holiday Recipe: Spicy Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

Can't remember if I posted this one before or not, but hey, here it is again :-)

And of course, as with all my recipes, there's a story behind this. Half my family is Laotian. Why, you ask...because my parents are giving people. My Dad, who served in Vietnam, always wanted to give back--and so, when I was 11, my family sponsored a Laotian family of three. Over the course of my life, my parents sponsored more than 30 Laotians into this country, and many of them have become part of my extended family. My brother's mother (long story :-) has been teaching me a few Laotian and Thai dishes. While I'm no chef, believe me, this is one of my favorites for the holidays, next to my mom's lobster stew (which is in THE ANGEL CRAVED LOBSTER).

Spicy Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

2 cans coconut milk (in the Asian section of the grocery store; they now make a lite version, if you're counting calories)
1 can asparagus spears, cut up
1 cup frozen cut green beans, par-cooked
1-2 cups frozen shrimp, tails removed (I like a lot of shrimp, so I add a lot!)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red chili paste (here's the heat, so go easy on this; you can always add more if you like a lot of heat
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce (fish sauce is an Asian staple; find it in the Asian section of the store. If you don't like it, you can substitute soy sauce).

Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer until the shrimp is defrosted. Be sure that red chili paste is well mixed in, too ;-)

This happens to be my lunch today, BTW. And was yesterday, too. I'm in a soup kind of mood :-)

Shirley