Economic Decorating » cooking

Are You Exhausted by the Time Your Guests Arrive

pitapuppy — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:36:51 +0000

Most people who are having guests for Thanksgiving start cooking at the crack of dawn, work in the kitchen while friends and family are visiting and enjoying the h’or doeurves you slaved over, and then jovially sit at the table waiting for the piece de resistance to arrive. I prefer to organize my Thanksgiving preparations.

I have always resented not having the time or energy to enjoy my guests when they arrive. I want to mingle, chat and nibble with everybody! And I don’t want to be too tired to pick up my fork when dinner is served.

Planning ahead, I tear up the bread for my stuffing and toss it into a paper bag to dry a week before Thanksgiving. I poke holes in the paper, and shake the bag every day, since I never have enjoyed mold as a seasoning.

On Wednesday, right after dinner (which is either leftovers or take-out), I start cooking. Any family or guests that are staying overnight at my home are expected to participate. We do great bonding, and share plenty of laughter (and mishaps) in the kitchen that night! Any dish that can be reheated without sacrificing taste or texture is made on Wednesday. Cranberries, sweet potato casseroles, sweet kraut, bean casseroles, turkey stock for the gravy, the liptauer, pies, cakes, or apple slices are done that night.

Around midnight, the stuffed turkey is put in the oven, at a slow temperature. Even if it is self-basting, I get up every few hours (or take turns with other house guests) to get up and check the bird. My oven turns off automatically when it is done, but, since I am a chronic worrier, I get up then, too. Mr. turkey is put on top of the stove to cool, and I get a few more hours of sleep.

Our favorite time of the whole holiday is when we carve the turkey and “taste” everything that is not perfect enough to serve. We call that “breakfast.” Placed back in the roasting pan, I baste it with some of the turkey stock, which keeps the slices nice and juicy, cover with foil, and place it in the oven, on warm.

All we have to do in the last hour is to make mashed potatoes, a vegetable, finish the gravy, and toss a salad. Of course, to do this easily, you will need a microwave, and two ovens…if you want everything reheated at the same time. Crock pots are handy, too.

The table is set, and then I shower, take a nap, and am raring to go when my guests arrive. Please have a wonderful and enjoyable Thanksgiving!

The Secret of Stretching a Chicken (part 3)

pitapuppy — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:17:36 +0000

Do you remember that nice pile of chicken breast cubes that you set aside after making your chicken soup?Well we are going to make a wonderful stir fry, lo mein, fried rice, or chow mein from that leftover chicken. Of course, it is even nicer if you start with raw chicken for these dishes, but right now we are into the secret of stretching a chicken (part 3). Trust me…it will be delicious.

First of all, if you are accustomed to using fresh herbs and spices, you will need ginger and garlic for these dishes. When I am making them from scratch and for a special dinner, I do use fresh. However, when I am stretching a chicken for my own consumption, and have other priorities, I happily use garlic powder and ground ginger. Sesame oil or peanut oil are terrific in these dishes, but plain vegetable oil is fine. I usually use light olive oil, which doesn’t add flavor and is somewhat healthier for you.

As always, I check the fridge for my “oh-oh, better use soon” veggies and incorporate them into these dishes. So let’s do things a bit differently than usual, and I will simply give you a list of the various vegetables I have used and let you pick what you have in stock or the ones you and your family prefer. Fresh veggies that need to be sautéed first:

green, red, white or yellow onions, leeks.
red or green cabbage, Chinese cabbage, savoy cabbage, kohlrabi, bok choy.
bean sprouts, pea pods, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery.
Mushrooms, zucchini, yellow summer squash.

Veggies that are canned can be added at the end, such as mixed Chinese vegetables, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, mushrooms, water chestnuts.

This kind of cooking requires hot oil and fast sautéing. Heat your oil, add your garlic and ginger, pepper, crushed red pepper (if desired) and whatever raw veggies you chose. You want them to have some crunch, so put in things like carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower first. Then add the other ingredients. Once they are beginning to soften, add your pre-cooked chicken and a little soy sauce.

You need some extra moisture, so use some of that chicken soup you made instead of water. If you prefer a thicker gravy, rather than a thin sauce, add some corn starch to your broth, shake it up, and then add, remembering to stir continuously.

For stir fry keep everything crispy and serve with rice, For lo mein, use rice noodles or fine spaghetti, stirred into your pan with the veggies. Chow mein is served over rice with brown , crispy noodles. For fried rice you will need cold, cooked rice, so it should be made early in the day. All you do is heat your oil, add your rice, ginger, pepper, salt, a little bit of soy sauce, and start stirring it. Add some frozen peas and carrots, or perhaps some water chestnuts, and then shove it all to the side of the pan. Scramble a couple eggs, add to the pan, avoiding the rice, and do not stir until it has set. Then mix the whole thing together and add more soy if needed for flavoring. Don’t let it get too wet!

Have fun with it…and remember, it all came from stretching a chicken!

The Secret of Stretching a Chicken (part 2)

pitapuppy — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:36:46 +0000

Stretching a Chicken (part 2). If you read my recipe for turkey croquettes, consider that the first of the three recipes I promised you. All you have to do is substitute some of the soup chicken for turkey.

That chicken you had scooped out of the pot is now cooled and ready to be divided into three separate piles. The first thing you do is cut the breast into nice sized cubes (a little bigger than a Kraft caramel). That is your pile for recipe number 3.

Now take any parts that didn’t fall into the nice cube category and push them to another pile. Add to it smaller cubes or pieces from the thighs. It can be shredded if you prefer. You don’t know it, but that is recipe number 2.

What is left is the leg meat, and the small shredded bits that you have studiously pulled off of all the bones. That is what you will use for your chicken croquettes. Of course, you can always steal a bit from the other piles to make more croquettes.

Okay…lets move Now that you have learned to make perfect chicken soup, it is time to move on to The Secret of along to recipe number 2. Sandi’s famous (and healthful) chicken salad. Many people prefer tuna to chicken because it has more flavor. I used to be one of those folks. Then I decided to make my chicken salad better. Because I believe whole heartedly in eating vegetables and fruit with every single meal, I decided to incorporate them into my chicken salad.

So back to the vegetable bin we go…this time looking for veggies that need to be eaten soon. I have used radishes, kohlrabi, red cabbage, onions of all varieties, celery, and carrots successfully, and in whatever combinations that were crying out to be eaten. I had a few failures, too. Lettuce wilts too fast if you don’t eat it all at one sitting, cucumbers and tomatoes make everything too soggy, and cauliflower and broccoli seem to add a bit too much flavor.

So now that you have chosen your veggies, start chopping. Go for about half as much of each vegetable as you have chicken, and use at least three or four different kinds. Put it all in a bowl, add mayo to taste, salt, pepper, and dill (if you like it) and stir well. Then chop up a handful of either grapes (any color) or some apple to give it a nice hint of sweet. Need more crunch? Throw in some chopped almonds or walnuts.

This chicken salad recipe is not only delicious…it stretches your chicken, gives you your fruits and veggies without having to eat that same old salad, and can be served a number of different ways. So, to grab a quick sandwich for lunch (it’s great with a cup of that home-made chicken soup), pile it between two slices of whole wheat or oatmeal bread, add a slice of tomato and some lettuce and chow down.

Serving lunch to your card club? Stuff a large tomato with this chicken salad, nestled in a bed or lettuce, and serve some little crunchy wheat crackers on the side. And for that party you want to serve hors d’oeurves at? Chop it up a little finer, and serve it in a bowl surrounded by all kinds of crackers or party rye!

Look for The Secret of Stretching a Chicken (part 3) coming soon. If you want more things to do with chicken, I’ll let you in on some of my chicken breast recipes…for both singles and families. I wish you good eating…

The Secret of Stretching a Chicken

pitapuppy — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:27:09 +0000

This week large whole chickens were on sale, so I naturally bought one. Generally, since I am cooking for one, I buy a bunch of skinless and boneless chicken breasts when they are on sale for under $1.50 per pound, wrap them individually, and freeze them. You would not believe how far you can stretch one chicken breast! But I digress. Today we are discussing my $4.00 whole fryer. So here is Part 1 of the secret of stretching a chicken!

The first thing I did was to remove all of the skin, innards, and chunks of fat. After rinsing, it was thrown into a soup pot, covered with water, and brought to a boil Don’t just sit and watch it….this is when you efficiently chop an onion, a few stalks of celery, and three or four carrots into small chunks.

As the water begins to boil, a whitish, grayish, thickish foam will start to gather on the water. Don’t ask what it is…just skim it off and throw it away! By the time you are at a full boil, it will just be a thin foam and can be ignored. Add your veggies.

Fryers will not give you as rich a broth as a stewing hen because it cooks so fast. Your choice here is to either make a small amount of soup, or to add some chicken bouillon to the water to give you more soup for your money. Needless to say, I make more soup, eat it for days, and freeze a couple small containers for those winter colds that only chicken soup can cure.

Simmer until your chicken is done…about an hour (the way to heck it out is to try and remove it by holding only a leg. If the rest of the chicken splashes back into the pot, it is done). Remove the chicken and leave it out to cool for a while.

Now you continue cooking, because the carrots are probably still a bit too aldente. It is decision time. What to add to this soup in the way of carbs! You can make matzo balls (yum), which can be added right now to a slow boiling broth. Twenty more minutes and it will all be ready. Or you can add rice or pasta…preferably cooked separately and added a few minutes before serving.

Optional is adding back some of the chicken meat. I personally like to return the dark meat to the pot , but you can do whatever you please. However, I am going to offer you three delicious recipes for that leftover chicken, each of which will feed a family of four.

Not bad…if you do all three (and there is enough chicken to do this) You are going to have enough soup for two to three dinners, plus three additional meals (and some individual frozen dinners) all from stretching a chicken!

I’ll get those recipes to you soon! Happy cooking!

Jon’s famous potatoes

pitapuppy — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:06:45 +0000

Jon from Prague has honored us with his famous potato casserole recipe. It is another great way to use some of the things in your refrigerator that are beginning to grow, and it is tasty , too! I had them myself when I was in Prague last year!

Grab the three potatoes you have left in the bag, one onion, an egg, and some not too ripe milk!

wash the potatoes (don’t peel them) and remove any eyes!
slice the potatoes and soak them in warmish water for about 30 mins
while the potatoes are soaking, peel and slice the onion
break the egg into a mug and add the milk, give it a quick stir to break the yolk.
remov e the potatoes from the water and place them in a smallish (oven proof) ceramic dish, one layer of potatoes, one layer of onion add a dash of salt and pepper to each layer if you like… keep going till you run out of po tato! (I like to keep the ends of the potatoes for the top and they brown up nicely

Poor over the milk and egg mix (don’t worry if it doesn’t come all the way to the top, it will expand)

Pop it in the oven on 220c (that would be 425 F for you Americans) for about 25 mins, or until it smell so good you can’t wait any longer

Very cheap and easy to make (heck, I can do it!)

Thank you, Jon! Anyone else have a cheap recipe that uses leftovers or over the hill foods? We’d love to hear from you!

Sandi

Pizza Soup

pitapuppy — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:55:13 +0000

It is starting to get cold out, so it seems right to give you another of my favorite soup recipes. I invented this one because I was trying to lower my carbohydrate intake. I was doing okay except for two things. I simply cannot live without bagels or pizza. Well, I’m still eating bagels, but I found a way to have my pizza (without the crust) and eat it too!

You need to pick up a package of your favorite Italian sausage, some pepperoni, 2 large cans of diced tomatoes, a large onion, mushrooms (canned or fresh), and green, red or yellow bell pepper. As with most of my recipes, most ingredients are optional. That is because I am usually cleaning out the fridge, cabinets, etc. However, I do recommend that you should use whatever you would normally order on your pizza. Tell your finicky eaters to pick out what they don’t like.

For seasonings you need salt, pepper, garlic, basil, oregano, parmesan cheese and beef bouillon. Are you ready?

If you didn’t buy bulk Italian sausage, slice through the casing, mush it up and sauté it with chopped onion in some olive oil (or whatever oil you normally use). Add your garlic, salt, pepper, and basil at this point (hold off on the oregano). When it is cooked through, add your sliced mushrooms and chopped peppers. After that is slightly tender, toss in your tomatoes, pepperoni, some beef bouillon, and a can of water.

Stir it up and let it simmer, covered, until you are dying to taste it. Remember that the ingredients are all cooked at this point, so you are now attempting to fuse your flavors. Make any seasoning adjustments that are necessary. If you got it a bit too salty, add another can of water and/or tomatoes. They say throwing in a potato absorbs the salt but it never worked for me!

If you have it seasoned well, then it is time to add some parmesan (for thickening) and a shake or two of oregano. Don’t add parmesan if the soup is too salty…it is a salty cheese. If you are wondering why we wait to the end to add oregano (as I always did), it is because oregano tends to get a bit bitter tasting if cooked too long. But it is great on pizza!

Serve it plain, or drop a piece of provalone on top to melt in (this is not a salty cheese) and sprinkle with a bit of parmesan. I said it was lower on carbs than pizza…I never said it was low in calories. Enjoy!