Orange Paradise

I don't just play with food.  I can often be found "behind a bar" mixing drinks.  Several years ago I took a bar tending class.  The hope was to pick up a few night shifts during the week and make some extra cash.  However, they all required Friday and Saturdays and I didn't want to commit to those full time.  I did however spend a few nights and Fiesta weekend behind the bar at Valentino's last summer.  That was a lot of fun.

I'm at work, so this is a quicky update and it's a SUPER easy recipe.  I'm sitting here thinking it would be nice to have one of these right about now.  "Why are you thinking about drinking at work Jenn?" - have you seen what I do on a daily basis?  I need a drink today.

Anyhow, I did make this last night and tossed it together with whatever I had at home.
This is a mix in the glass drink, it's that quick.

Apple, Kiwi, Strawberry Juice - pretty sure it was Langer's brand
Bicardi O - this is an Orange Rum


Pour 1 shot of the run into the bottom of your martini glass
Fill the rest of the way with Juice.
Drink.

Optional:  rim the glass with margarita sugar, drop an orange slice into the bottom

Caution:  You can't taste the rum and this goes down fast.  For a stronger drink, add more rum to taste.

Cheers!

Quick & Dirty Cod or Haddock

Fish night is usually a last minute "I'm hungry for fish" kind of evening that causes me to run to the store after work and specifically pick up fish.  I never really plan it.  So by the time I get home, it needs to be done quick, and flavorful. I love fish, and I never seem to buy enough of it the night I make it.  I could eat a whole plateful, forget about sides.  Fish is also healthy, (depending on how you prep and serve) and I try to keep it that way for the most part, that way I can afford to eat MORE of it.  It's also one of the few meats that Kassidy will devour and ask for more of.

I prefer cod, Rob prefers haddock. I make them exactly the same.  The fish itself is really the only difference.  Cod is more dense than haddock and haddock tends to flake when cooked.  I like my meat tender so I'll tell you to pull it from the oven when it's just barely done, leave it in the pan for about 5 and it'll continue to cook to perfection.  Ingredients, you should already have stocked.  So here we go.

Purchasing Fish:

• If you're buying a white fish, you want the fish to be white, not yellow, and not of a mealy looking texture.  It should be vibrant and actually smell like fish.
• If you're buying tuna, you want it bright red.  If it looks pale in color or kinda "limp" let it go, it's been out too long or not fresh.
• If  you're buying salmon, same thing, you want it a nice bright orange/pink and should smell like tuna.
• Haddock, usually comes in a fillet, 2-3 fillets will give you a pound of fish, give or take.
• Cod, can come in a fillet, same as haddock.  But can also come in what's called the captain's cut, which is the larger meatier part of the fillet.  Personal preference.  I like more bang for my buck and just get the whole fillet.

Prepping the Fish:

• Give it a quick rinse under cold water.  Use a paper towel and pat it dry.
• I have a pair of tweezers just for this purpose that I keep in my kitchen utility drawer.  Rub your hand along the top of the fillet and feel for bones.  The fish monger doesn't always get them all.
• Locate the bone, squeeze it and rip it out in the direction that the bone is leaning.
• Turn the fillets over so that what would be skin side is facing up, salt and pepper, sprinkle high, coats evenly.  

 Into the pan:

• I use a clear glass Pyrex baking dish
• Arrange the fillets in the pan.  Turn the thin ends under doubling the thickness. You want the fish to cook evenly throughout so one end is not dry while the other is perfect.
• Sprinkle again with salt and pepper
• Now we play... get ready to get dirty
• sprinkle with paprika, not tooooo much, but a good shake on each fillet.  Rub it in.  Give that fish a nice red massage.  Get into the crevices and turn it pink.
• Give each fillet a quick squeeze of lemon juice, give it a good massage...
• Quick drizzle of olive oil over each fillet, rub it in.  Give it a good massage again, this will help give it a tan crispy top.
• Now, you could stop here and toss them into the oven....
• But why stop, when you could add bread crumbs?  I use Italian seasoning blend.  Coat them evening on top and again, pat it down and rub them on.

Baking:

• I like my fish broiled.  As a mom of now 2, dinner needs to be done in less than 30 minutes.  Turn your oven broil on High.  Put on center rack.  Close the door (yeah, I know, you're not "supposed" to when you broil, but this works, trust me.
• Set your timer.  This should only take 8-12 minutes.  Yes, you heard me... 12 minutes to make yummy, fish.
• When the timer goes of at 8 minutes, check it.  Open the flakey crevices a little bit, do they still look translucent and raw?  Put them back in for another 2 minutes, repeat.
• When the flake pieces start to separate from one another, the fish is done, pull it immediately.
• Let it rest, like any other meat for 5-10 minutes.

 I serve this typically with Beats (for me, since Rob doesn't like them and Kass is touch and go), "some kind of green vegetable" and pan fried potatoes. (yep, another recipe for another blog)

Five Guys Leftover Fries - Take 'em Camping!

While "Five Guys" restaurant may not be the classiest joint in town, it certainly has the BEST burger, and who can go wrong with potatoes fried in peanut oil?  I find myself in this joint from time to time with close work guys.  Yep, we drive 30 minutes out of Ipswich, MA all the way to Gloucester, MA to chow down on burger and fries, just to drive 30 minutes back to Ipswich.  Yeah, it takes longer than a one hour lunch, but this place is so good, it's a "manager approved" trip, and he's been known to join us for this 1 hour 20 minute excursion.

The burger, that's a blog in itself.  Let's just say you can order it loaded with just about any topping you can think of and while you're eating it, you feel as if you should be in a corner having "private time" as you sink your teeth and wrap your lips around it's bun.  Yeah, it's that good.  And unless you've brought your appetite, don't bother ordering a large fry, 'cause just a small will do ya.  You order a small, you get an 8oz paper cup of fries, but wait, there's more.  They put the burger in the bottom of your bag, place your cup 'o fries in next to it, and then proceed to dump in another generous heaping amount of fries into the bag.  By the time this bag gets back to your table for consumption, it's soaked in peanut oil and oozing with yummy goodness.

So yeah, you're going to have too many fries.  But what to do with them?
My solution, toss 'em in bacon fat and make them into something else! 
So here's my play with leftover fries, more specifically, leftover Five Guys fries -> Home Fries
I can't get enough breakfast when I go camping. It's (one of) the best things about camping.  I can eat as much bacon, sausage, pancakes, eggs and syrup I want since... well, just why the hell not?  And with that, let's add Home Fries.  Typically, I slice up fresh potatoes, pan fry them and go.  (another recipe I created, for another time).  But today, here's how simple leftover Five Guys french fries can be made into home fries.

This of course, is assuming that with breakfast, you have already fried up bacon.  You need bacon.  This is key.  Breakfast isn't complete without bacon... so go get  yourself a pound and fry it up.  When it's done, DON'T dump that bacon greasy goodness down the drain (you shouldn't anyhow, it plugs it up) - leave at least 1/2 of it in the pan and proceed from here.

1. Remove Fries from Fridge
2. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3. Toss them into your hot pan of bacon grease
4. Generously douse in salt and pepper
5. Add onion powder and garlic powder (sprinkle high and coat evenly, but don't over do it)
6. Toss around and fry up until the fries are crispy and warm.

Serve.  And DON'T even THINK of putting ketchup on them.  They don't need it.

Chicken Soup - Have a Bowl

The last few blogs have been within a 24 hour period of me actually cooking the food that I've described and provided the steps for.  Today however, I was inspired by Rob bringing chicken thighs home last night to cook up so he could have chicken salad.  It reminded me about my home-made chicken soup.  Which, is probably how I got started with playing around with recipes.  I mean, it's soup, throw stuff into a pot, cook it, call it done.

This recipe makes soup for an army.  I mean really, you can't make soup for just one, let alone two, or even four.  You make stock, and you make STOCK.  I came about this recipe several years ago after realizing that I had a lot of chicken left over after making a roast and just wasn't sure what to do with it.  So, this is really a "left over meal."  But, you could make fresh, it's just  more work the night you make it, that's all.

This recipe has gone through a few changes over the years as well.  This is the best part about playing with food.  It started out as just plain old chicken soup.  Then I realized that I "could" add noodles and made chicken noodle soup.  Few years later I was reminded of this chicken and corn chowder that I used to get growing up.  My father was in the Boy Scouts of America, and they had this dinner every year and "this guy" (hey, I was like 8, how am I supposed to remember what the dinner was for and who the guy was?) and he made GREAT chicken and corn chowder WITH dumplings.  Now, I have not yet added dumplings to this soup, but it's an option to consider later down the road.  What I really did with this soup was make it taste like my great grandfather Pappy Bro and Grammy Ester's soup.  THEY made an awesome chicken and corn chowder.  Odd thing is, I can only remember having it once or twice.  But I have memories of it nonetheless.  And I put noodles in mine, they didn't.

So, while I call this "chicken soup" it's probably more appropriate to call it "Chicken Chowder Noodle Soup" since that's what goes in it and how it comes out.  Get ready to feast and let's play.

Pre-Ingredients:

• You will need an already roasted chicken carcass.  You can use a leftover that you recently made or simply go get a rotisserie from your local supermarket.
• Make sure that it's scraped clean of the meat and set the meat aside in a bowl or bag.  If you don't get all of it, don't worry about it, that just adds extra flavor and the 4 hour boil you're about to put it through will help it come off the bone later. 
• Chicken - you can use your leftovers, or you can bake up more parts and use those, and/or saute up a bunch of chicken breasts, add the meat from here to that bowl/bag from above.

Stock:

• Of course I make my own stock!  It's EASY
• You'll need:  Olive oil, Carrots, Celery, Onion, Salt, Pepper, Your chicken carcass, Water
• Get a giant pot.  How big?  Well, how much soup do you want to make and how big is your chicken?  Yep, that big.
• Give the bottom a quick splash of the olive oil, covers about 1/2
• Add your carrots, celery and onion - these have been roughly chopped, looks don't matter, we're going to toss them later
• heat them up and stir them around until they are just "squishy" and the bottom of the pan is mildly brown
• Toss a little water in and deglaze (we've covered this, it means srape the brown off the bottom)
• Add the chicken carcass
• Pour water into the pot until it's about 2 inches over the carcass
• Generously salt and pepper
• Cover, bring to a boil, turn down and simmer it for about 3 hours
• Every once in a while, open the lid and skim off the white frothy fat with a spoon
• After 3 hours, turn it off.  Time to strain it.  KEEP the stock, toss the rest.
• Put your stock aside in another container, we're going to reuse the pot (don't clean it) for the soup

Soup's On

• Carrots, chopped nicely
• Celery, chopped nicely
• Onion, chopped fine (not a fan of huge pieces in my soup, but love the flavor)
• So, this combination is known as Mirepoix - hence forth to be called "The Holy Trinity" of soups
• OK, back to our pot, olive oil again, toss in the Holy Trinity and saute until soft
• Pour in the stock over the top and bring to a high simmer, not quite full boil
• Add more vegetables!!
• You can use frozen veggies, which I usually do, or you can use fresh
• Corn, Green Beans, Peas, more Carrots
• Locate the chicken meat that you placed aside from pre-ingredients
• Shred or chop this up to bite size pieces
• Add it to the pot
• Keep the temp so that the soup is still at a good simmer
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• I tend to under salt, allowing the consumers to salt their bowl to taste
• Right now, you have CHICKEN SOUP  

• Add Noodles:  optional
• I like egg noodles personally
• Now, you have CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

• Time to thicken things up a bit, get the soup to a rolling boil
• If you need this to be gluten free, use cornstarch, if you don't care, use flour
• Mix up 2oz of flour/cornstarch to 8oz of water and shake/whip until combined
• While the soup is at a rolling boil, start to slowly pour the thickener into the pot, keep stirring at all time so you don't get lumps.
• Pour about 1/2 the slurry in, let bubble and thicken.  Want it thicker?  Add more slurry.
• Now you have CHICKEN CHOWDER NOODLE SOUP

I like to serve this with a  nice crusty piece of bread.  You might choose Italian or even French.  It's GREAT for dipping into.

Whatever you don't consume that night, you can freeze.  This soup freezes really well.

I'm overdue to make this.  Hrm.  Now I'm hungry.  Anyhow, enjoy and happy souping!

Chinese at Home

So, I crave Chinese food on a fairly regular basis.  I think they put something it in that tells your brain "In four to seven days, you will want me again."

To entertain, I think yet another football night Rob had a buddy coming over several years ago, I looked up how to make "Chinese food."  What kind of Chinese food, isn't that hard?  Well yes and no.  Don't you need a wok?  Nope!  And to be more specific I had certain dishes in mind that I researched, not just "chinese food."  I have found that most of the recipes I review aren't that complicated, they just require a lot of ingredients and a well stocked pantry for said ingredients, which can get costly.  But, you can cheat your way through some of them and not always have to include every single ingredient and still satiate the pallete. 

One of my cheats is "red meat" as my daughter calls it (aka Boneless Spareribs).  Check your local grocery store in the ethic foods aisle and locate "Ah-so" sauce.  That's all it takes.  Find your favorite cut of pork, slice it up, drown it in Ah-So and bake.  If you let it marinate overnight, it's WAY better, but just tossing it around and throwing it into the oven works too.  I broil mine in a Pyrex clear dish until they look "done."

 So, I did this Tuesday night but needed a side dish.  Duh, fried rice.  Doesn't every single Chinese food meal come with Fried Rice?  And what could I do to it so I wouldn't have to make an extra vegetable.  Pork was a toss and cook.  I can take a little time to make a good rice.  Compared a few recipes, left some ingredients out, and produced the following:

Ingredients:

• 2c uncooked rice – cook it according to package directions (makes 4 cups cooked, give or take)
• Handful of bean sprouts
• now, when I say a "handful", it means, as much as you think should go in there
• Handful of Frozen peas
• Handful of Frozen diced carrots
• 1 egg, scrambled raw in bowl
• Mini pre-cooked tiny frozen shrimp, thawed or frozen, i started frozen, I was in a rush
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil

And away you go, start playing:

• Heat skillet/wok/sturdy non-stick frying pan really really hot
• Add sesame oil, get it hot
• Add the shrimp – stand back!
• Toss around until heated nicely, takes like 1 minute
• Add the carrots, peas and bean sprouts
• Add oyster sauce
• probably about a 1/4 cup, I don't really know, I just tossed some in until it looked good and tasted nice
• Add soy sauce, to taste, but not more than a few tablespoons
• you don’t want it to taste like soy, unless you like that
• Toss around, keep moving until veggies cooked through
• Make a hole in the veggies so you have the center of the pan clear
• Add the egg, let sit to cook, chop it around, stir into rest of veggies
• Add rice and toss
• KEEP THINGS MOVING AT ALL TIMES

I Could Eat a Whole Bag of Mozzarella Cheese

It's pizza night at our house.  For a while we were doing every Thursday.  Changing things up now due to scheduling conflicts on Thursdays.  I grew up in a household where mom cooked dinner every night.  But dad, dad could make pizza.  And THAT was awesome.  We (my sister and I) would stand about the kitchen as he pulled and prodded and tossed and turned.  Sauce would flow and the mozzarella cheese was endless.  It would come out of the oven all hot and ooey gooey.  Many a tongue was burnt since we dove right in anxious to get the first bite of cheesy goodness.

Now that I have a household of my own, I pass this tradition down.  Kassidy doesn't like sauce.  No pizza sauce, no spaghetti sauce.  A blog for another time.  So, the solution was to make pizza rather than buy it.  But isn't pizza hard to make?  You ask.  But what about the dough?  You ask.  This my friends is pizza in 15 minutes or less.  By no means gourmet, but hey, let's play!  And for you parents out there, this is a great way to get the kids involved!  They can help at ever single step.

• Pre-heat your oven to 475 degrees, NOW, do not put the pizza in until it's 475
• Pizza dough - where can you get this?  Well, your local grocery store of course.  You didn't know that?  Yep, usually in the deli section "somewhere" - and most places do regular "white" dough, as well as wheat options.  I like the wheat, it tends to crisp up more.  But we usually just do the white.
• Now, if you want this dinner to take more preparation and longer than 15 minutes, this is where you can divert from the recipe.  Dough, cold, directly out of the store bag will work, just fine.  It makes a "heavy" crust, you can get it crisp.  But if you like a light and fluffy crust, you'll want to let this sit out for a bit.  Get a bowl, spray it with your cooking spray of choice, place the dough in, turn it once to coat both sides, cover it with a towel, and let it sit.  On the counter.  Don't worry, it's going to be fine.
• Ok, so we got the dough.  Give it a good splash of flour so it's got a light dusting on all surfaces.  Stretch it, toss it, roll it out.  Have fun.  Get it into a circle if you have circle pans, put it in a rectangle for cookie sheets.  I use 14" round pans I got at a certain W-mart store for $12 each.  LOVE them.  Before you put the dough on, give it a few shakes of corn meal.  Don't have cornmeal, give it a light dusting of flour.
• With the dough on the pan, move onto sauce.  I use plain old, no ingredients, store brand tomato sauce.  Small can, what is that like 4oz?  Spoon it out in the quantity you desire.
• Now, we play.  Spices!  Think ITALIAN. - Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Onion Powder, Garlic Salt - sprinkle high for even coating.  (Kids LOVE doing this)
• Cheese... Oh Cheese, how do I love thee, let me count the ways...... Mozzarella and lots of it.  I load it on.  You'd think I was having cheese with some dough rather than dough with cheese.  Oh yes, the ooey-ist and gooey-ist.  Often, I find that adding some cheddar, monterrey jack, provolone, parmessan... oh yes, cheese, I love you.  {drooooool}  Anyhow, load your cheese on.
• Toppings!  Time to play again.  Load it up.  Broccoli, pepperoni, mushrooms, chicken, pineapple, ham, linguini, peppers/onions... a blog for another time again... but choose your favorite and put it on.
• Oven - remember do NOT put it in if the oven isn't full 475 degrees.
• 10 minutes, don't open the door until the buzzer goes off.  And even then, don't open it, turn the light on and look at it.  Did the dough rise? Is it a golden brown color?  No?  Give it just 2 more minutes?  How about now?  no?  1 minute.  Keep watching it and pull when you think it's done.
• Cutting board, pizza slicer, put the slices back on the hot pan to keep them warm.
• Add your favorite cold beverage to a glass.
• Yum.
  
  This is our 1/2 cheese no sauce, 1/2 mushroom extra cheese pizza from tonight.

Vegetarian Chili

It's Football Season!!!  Whohooo!!!  Nachos, Buffalo Wings, Chili, Dip, Chips, bar food gallore!
Patriot's opening night Monday Night Football was this week.

Now to be perfectly clear, since my husband will read this.. yes, I like football, I enjoy watching it.  However, I'm no stats guru.   I don't know all the rules, I don't know all the players.  I was in a fantasy football league once, that was fun.  I fall asleep by half-time.  But the concept of football, yeah I'm down with that.  Besides, I work in a department full of guys, I need something to talk about.
 
But this is a blog about food, so here we go.
Typical Menu, nachos, drowned in cheese, topped with taco meat, sliced jalepenos, gobs of sour cream and beer on the side.  In the mood for more spice, I'll toss a bag of frozen buffalo wings into the oven.  Hey, a working mom can't do it all.  Besides, I spend my time making the nachos, those are my favorite anyways.

But wait... people are coming over.  Someone's a vegetarian.   I can't make nachos without taco meat, that's just not right.  I'll skip the machos nachos. What to do... what to do?  Vegetarian chili, sounds good.  But how do you make chili without meat?  And what actually GOES INTO vegetarian chili?

So this is how I play it.  Ask around.  Who's got a good recipe?  No answers really.  Pulled up my favorite search engine, "vegetarian chili" -> the results are endless... how exciting.  I don't print a single one out.  Why?  Because it's chili, who needs a recipe for chili?  Just toss things into a pot and cook it!  But, I'm curious what others put in it.  So I take a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.  And voila!  Results below.

-    1 large yellow onion – chopped
-    Drizzle bottom of pot with olive oil to coat bottom, toss in onion, heavily salt/pepper
-    Saute over medium heat until onions are golden brown and there are crustys on the bottom of the pan.
-    Deglaze with liquid of choice.  I used water because I didn’t know my audience, but would have used perhaps a red wine or even a sherry

Jenn, stop.. what do you mean "deglaze" - well, pour the liquid in, use your WOODEN spoon to scrape the yummy crusty stuff off the bottom, that's not burning, that FLAVOR!  Professional cooks, I believe call this "fond" - well, if it's black and starting to smoke and smells bad, then it's burning.  But a good dark brown before that, that folks is yummy goodness.

-    (if you want to turn this into a meat lovers chili, add 1lb of ground beef or ground turkey at this point and sauté until no red left – deglaze pan when done)
-    1 large green bell pepper, 1 large red bell pepper, 4 stalks of celery – chopped, bite size pieces
-    Toss into pot and continue to sauté until there are crustys on the bottom of the pan
-    Deglaze with liquid of choice.
-    3 or 4 carrots, chopped to bit size pieces, toss into pan.
-    ½ to whole jalepeno pepper finely chopped (I take out the white veins, not so spicey that way, leave on if you want it spicier)
-    Continue to sauté until carrots are mildly soft.
-    Put in one 8oz can of tomato puree, deglaze pan if you got more crustys.
-    Put in one 16oz can of chopped tomoatoes
-    Fill ½ of the 8oz tomato can with water and put that in
-    Toss in one 8oz can of (rinsed) black eyed peas
-    Toss in one 8oz can of (rinsed) kidney beans
-    Toss in one 8oz can of (rinsed) cannellini beans
-    (optional) Toss in one 8oz can of (rinsed) black beans
-    Toss in a bunch of frozen corn
-    Chili Powder – to taste, I like just a little zing on the tongue when cooking for a crowd and this results in about 2T of powder, or the way I measure, cup your hand and fill the center.  Add more if you like it hot.
-    Turn heat up, bring to boil, turn heat to Med-Low simmer
-    Serve with shredded cheese of choice and a tab of sour cream in the middle
-    Serves 6-8 depending on your bowl size