Christmas Cooking Gadgets

Anybody ask for any cool kitchen gadgets this year?

Asian Potsticker Soup

Beth's friend got her a Trader Joe's cookbook for Christmas, and this recipe came from there (with slight modifications). It turned out pretty tasty, but it will be interesting to see how the leftovers taste this week. I'm afraid the wontons will dissolve, but we shall see. It might be a recipe best served right away.

Ingredients:

4 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger (or 1 T fresh ginger)
2 Dried Thai Bird Chilies, roughly chopped
1/2 package of frozen Chicken Potstickers from TJ's
1 16 oz. bag frozen Stir-Fry vegetables
1/2 Cup Frozen Edamamme, shelled
1/2 Cup Shredded Carrots
4 Green Onions, sliced
2 Teaspoons Sesame Oil

Process:

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add potstickers and allow broth to come back to a boil. Add stir-fry veggies, edamamme, and carrots and bring to a boil once more. Let soup simmer 5 minutes and finish with green onions and sesame oil. (This could easily become vegetarian by using veggie broth and vegetable potstickers)

Soup Sundays produced this delicious (and healthly) cream of mushroom soup.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped leed
2 cloves of garlic
2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 teaspoons fresh dried dill
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup fat free milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream


Directions
1.Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute the onions, leek and garlic in the butter for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 more minutes. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of the dill, paprika, and broth. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
2.In a separate small bowl, whisk the milk and flour together. Pour this into the soup and stir well to blend. Cover and simmer for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
3.Finally, stir in the salt, ground black pepper, lemon juice, remaining dill and sour cream. Mix together and allow to heat through over low heat, about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not boil. Serve immediately.

Check this Out!

The wife got a book the other day, totally unrelated to cooking, but it has a picture of a piece of carrot cake on the top so I've been wanting carrot cake for like a week. So I was off today and baked one up, Crazy right! Anyway, I hate baking, and I'm not a good baker, the cake was a little overcooked, and the icing looks Horrible! Here's a link the the recipe I used with a few small modifications.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Carrot-Cake-with-Maple-Cream-Cheese-Icing-102155

Chicken Tacos

So, I've realized that most all my posts start with "So...," but I'm ok with that. So anyway, I made some chicken tacos. I simmered some chicken breasts in a poaching liquid that included some dried chili's, onion, garlic, bay leaf, cumin and water. Simmered for about 20 mins then I took out to let cool. I strained the liquid, shredded the chicken, and added it back to the strained liquid and cooked a little longer. I made some corn tortillas and garnished them the traditional way with some chopped white onion, cilantro and a squeeze of lime. I also made some salsa verde which was really good and easy- 4 Tomatillos, 1 whole serano, glove of garlic, half a lime, pinch of salt and a bunch of cilantro. Food processor for a few pulses and voila, Salsa Verde!

Turkey Noodle Soup

I hope you didn't let your turkey carcass go to waste this Thanksgiving. Our new Thanksgiving Day tradition consists of having our big turkey dinner for lunch and then putting up the Christmas tree. (Yeah, it's Beth's thing) I have also started making my own turkey stock while we decorate the tree, which allows me to enjoy Thanksgiving a little bit longer. Just hack up some of the bones, add the aromatics you roasted with the turkey (you did use aromatics when you roasted your turkey, right?) cover with water, add a heavy dose of salt, and let it boil for a couple of hours. I usually have apples, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, sage, thyme, and rosemary leftover from my turkey so I just throw it all in there for the stock, you could also use all fresh vegies too.

Check out the sweet ladle Beth got me for my birthday this year.

Ingredients

1 pot of turkey stock or 8-10 cups chicken stock
1 T butter
2 large carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks of celery
3 cups left over turkey (I use the dark meat for this)
2 cups small egg noodles
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Process:

Heat stock in large pot. In a seperate skillet, melt the butter and saute carrots, onion and celery until soft. When stock starts to simmer, add vegetables, turkey and egg noodles. Once noodles are fully cooked, add parsley and serve.

Braised Short Ribs

Got this from "Chuck's Day Off" on cooking channel. I didn't realize the pic was so bad until I had eaten my meal, so apologies for that. I'm not sure I've ever had beef short ribs, but they were very good. The red wine sauce was easy to make and I'm sure it would work with a pork shoulder or chicken thighs too. Braising is awesome.

Ingredients:

Braised Short Ribs
3 large onions, coarsely chopped
3 to 4 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
4 large carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 beets, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 heads garlic, cut in half
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 beef short ribs
Coarse salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
Canola oil
2 (750 ml) bottles red table wine
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup brown sugar
Handful peppercorns
1 to 2 tablespoons butter, a nub


Process:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, celery, carrots, beets and garlic. Add the rosemary, thyme, star anise, and cinnamon stick, and set aside.

Cut the ribs between the bones, and trim all the excess outer fat. Season the ribs well with coarse salt. Dredge in flour until well coated.

In a large Dutch oven or wide soup pot on high heat, pour in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the ribs to the hot oil, and sear the ribs so they are browned well on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the ribs, and set aside.

In the same pan, transfer all the vegetables from the bowl, and stir to caramelize, and pick up all the brown bits. Add the meat back into the pot. Pour the wine over top. Ensure all is covered with the liquid and if not, top up with water.

Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar and peppercorns, and bring to a boil, cover with a lid or foil, and place in the oven until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours. Remove the ribs to a platter, and strain out the solids to use for something else.

Boil the cooking liquid in a wide shallow pan until it is reduced by half. It will be richer, more flavorful and thicker. Add a nub of butter at the end for sheen and flavor.