Roast Asparagus

Roast Asparagus. It's asparagus season around here. Last night I roasted some in the oven. Sometimes I cook them on the barbecue and this was essentially the same thing, cooked with a bit of oil, salt and pepper at a high heat. We had a tremendous wind and rain storm last night so I was not up for barbecuing!

Coat the asparagus lightly with olive oil. Lay in a single layer on a jelly roll pan or some other flat pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 450 for 12-15 minutes, until done.

Alternately, barbecue them for a few minutes on a hot grill. Lay them down cross-wise (so they don't fall through the grill!) and roll them back and forth a few minutes.

Worcestershire Chicken

Easy great chicken recipe! I found several variations of this on AllRecipes. One poster said her mom fixed this chicken this way so often they grew up calling it "normal" chicken. I can see why! It was so easy and so good!

Spray or rub a bit of oil in the bottom of a baking pan. Put a bit of oil on each bone-in chicken breast and lay skin side up in the pan. Sprinkle with the seasonings of your choice. I used garlic powder, salt, and pepper last night. Then pour some Worcestershire sauce over each one. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes, or until done.

King Ranch (Chicken Tortilla) Casserole

Not sure where the name comes from but you'll find variations of this all over the place.

1/2 or so diced onion
1/2 cup or diced green peppers (optional)
2 cans cream of whatever soup (good with a combo of mushroom and chicken, make your own to be really frugal!)
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with chilies
2 cups or so diced cooked chicken
12 corn tortillas, cut or torn into pieces
2 cups grated cheese

Saute the onion and peppers until soft. Stir in the soups, tomatoes, and chicken.

In a 9x13 baking pan, lay 1/3 of the tortilla pieces. 1/3 of the chicken and soup mixture on top and top with 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat the layers 2 more times (tortillas, chicken, cheese).

If you want you can freeze this now. I like to make two 9x9 pans and freeze one for another night.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. (If you froze it, thaw and bake a bit longer.)

Leek and Potato Soup

There are many variations to this and I've loved almost all of them. Sometimes the broth is half water and half milk, sometimes it's all chicken broth, sometimes it's chicken broth and milk. Sometimes there are just leeks and potatoes; other times I add chopped celery. Here's what I did last night and it came out great. Even my "I hate onions" kid liked it. (Don't tell her leeks are part of the onion family.)

Leeks can be hard to clean. What I do is cut the really tough top part of the greens off, but leave the root (bulb) intact at first. Slice the leek from the top down to the root, not cutting all the way through. Turn it and do this again so you've opened it up into fourths. Then hold under running water and separate the pieces so you can rinse all the dirt out. Finally, slice the root end off and slice the leek.

2 Tbs butter
1 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups sliced leeks
2 to 3 cups peeled diced potatoes
6 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp (or more) pepper
1 cup half and half or milk

Melt the butter and saute the leeks and garlic about 10 minutes, until very soft. Stir it all up frequently and keep the heat low enough so the garlic doesn't brown.

Add everything else except the milk and bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring now and then. Basically, you just want to make sure the potatoes are cooked. If you like, blend parts of the soup in the blender or using a handheld mixer, but you can skip this step and just have chunkier soup. When the soup has cooled just a bit, add the milk or cream, stir and serve.

This soup is just as good cold--at which point you can call it Vichyssoise.

Crab Cakes

2 large eggs, beaten
2 Tbs parsley flakes
2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
2 tsp prepared mustard
2 tsp dry mustard
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 pounds lump crab meat or 2 cans crab
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 Tbs bread crumbs
flour

Beat eggs. Add parsley flakes, Old Bay Seasoning, mustards, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Combine with crab meat and mayonnaise. Add just enough bread crumbs to get things to hold together. Start with 3 Tbs and see how it feels.

Shape into cakes or balls, dip or roll in flour.

Heat 2 Tbs oil and 2 Tbs butter in a frying pan. Cook crab cakes till browned on each side. Add more oil and butter if necessary.

Old Bay-like Seasoning

1 Tbs celery seeds
1 Tbs whole black peppercorns
6 bay leaves
1/2 tsp whole cardamoms
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
4 whole cloves
1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp mace

Put it all in a food processor or grinder and grind till powdery. I used my old coffee grinder (after washing it out carefully!). I had some canned crab and used it to make crab cakes last night. Mmmmm! A treat, for sure, but sometimes you gotta splurge!

Beef Stew with Red Wine and Garlic

Any Patricia Cornwall suspense fans will enjoy this cookbook. Food plays an important theme throughout the Kay Scarpetta novels and it's obvious that the author enjoys herself in the kitchen. Last night I made the Beef Stew with Red Wine and Garlic.

Cut 2 pounds of beef round into 1" pieces and shake in a bag with 4 Tbs flour.

Brown on medium high heat in 2 Tbs oil. Meanwhile prepare:
* 1 large onion, cut in 1/8s
* 4 large cloves of garlic, diced or pressed
* 1 carrot, peeled and diced
* 2 celery stalks, diced

Remove the meat when it's browned all over (about 10 minutes) and brown the onions and garlic about 8 minutes. Remove them and brown the carrots and celery about 8 minutes. Return the beef and onions and garlic back into the pot. Add:

* 1 cup red wine
* 2 cups beef broth
* 1 small can of V8 juice
* 1 cup of tomato juice

Stir and scrape to get all the good browned bits off the bottom of the pan, then simmer for an hour to an hour and a half. Add:

* 1 more cup of red wine
* 1 can drained artichoke hearts, cutting into 1/8s if not already cut
* 1 potato, peeled and diced
* 1 cup peas (frozen is fine)
* a handful of asparagus tips (I didn't have any and left them out)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Simmer another hour and a half or so, until the meat is very tender.

CheapCooking Tools

Taking a break from recipes to write about one of my all-time favorite appliances. I can do without a food processor. In fact, I prefer to chop and slice and dice everything by hand. It seems to take me less time to do that and clean off my board and knife than assemble, chop, and clean up the food processor. I still have one buried in the cupboards somewhere but it's rarely used.

What I use almost daily is my KitchenAid mixer though. My ex-MIL, who is a wonderful cook, was the one who talked me into buying it--with all the attachments. I use it to mix up pancakes, cakes, cookies, meatloaves, bread dough, you name it! Attach the shredder/slicer attachment and grate cheese, shred potatoes for potato pancakes, etc. It has to be one of the best investments for my kitchen.

White Chicken Chili

Cook some rice: 2 parts water to 1 part rice, plus a bit of salt and butter. Simmer at the lowest possible heat, covered.

Chop up an onion and start it satueeing in a bit of olive oil in a large deep frying pan. If you're starting with frozen chicken breasts or tenders, microwave just long enough so you can cut them into bite sized pieces (2 minutes tops) and throw them into the pan with the onions after you've cut them up.

Chop up some garlic and add that, 2-3 large cloves.

Rinse and drain two cans of white beans, cannelini or great northern (or use frozen ones you've cooked up earlier and defrosted).

Add 2 cups chicken broth. Homemade is better; 1 15 oz can will do in a pinch. Add the beans. Add 1 Tbs of cumin, a few shakes of cayenne, and black pepper to taste. If you're not cooking for kids (or at least not MY kids) add a small can of chopped green chilies. Cover and simmer until the chicken is done.

Hopefully you remembered to start some rice at the beginning of this. It should be done about now!

Grate some Jack cheese and dish up some sour cream to serve at the table. Put the rice on a plate and top with the chicken chili. Pass around the sour cream and cheese!

Play Dough

Okay, here's a different recipe for you: Play Dough!

1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Put everything in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. Remove from heat. Put the dough onto a board and let it cool a few minutes, then knead for 5 minutes or so.

We like to make this red at Valentine's Day. We roll it out and cut into heart shapes, put them in sandwich bags and deliver them as Valentine's to the kids in the neighborhood.

Crockpot Spare Ribs

Easy spare ribs for dinner yesterday. I cut them into individual pieces, salt and peppered them, and put them in the crockpot. Covered them with barbecue sauce and them cook all day. Just before serving I pulled them out of the sauce and broiled them a few minutes. The only thing I'd do differently next time is to reserve some of the sauce. It tasted fine but was very watery after cooking all day in the crockpot. I would have liked some thicker stuff to serve with the ribs.

Pizza sauce From Diced Tomatoes

New pizza sauce tonight. I wanted to try something a bit chunkier. I used:

* 1/2 an onion diced
* 1 garlic cloves, minced (next time I'll use 2)
* 2 (15 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
* 1 (6 oz) small can of tomato paste
* 2 tsp Italian herbs, a store blend
* a pinch of salt

Saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil until soft. Then add everything else. Cooked it at a low simmer for an hour, stirring and break up the tomatoes periodically.

Pizza crust was fairly standard:

* 2 1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 pkg if you buy it that way)
* 1 cup warm water
* 2 Tbs olive oil
* 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour
* 1 tsp salt

Then for flavor I added:

* 1/2 tsp garlic powder
* 1 tsp Italian herbs
* 1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix the yeast and water and let sit a few minutes. Mix flour, salt, and dried stuff, then dump in the yeast, water, and oil. I do this in my KitchenAid mixer. Mixed for about 3 minutes on level 2, until the ball of dough was clinging together. Put in an oiled bowl and turn to coat; cover with a clean towel and place in a warm place to rise an hour. Spread or roll out onto your pizza pan (round or jelly roll); cover and let rise while you preheat the oven to 450. Press down with your fingertips on the dough and then bake for 5 minutes. Spread the sauce. Sprinkle the cheese of choice. (I used about 3 cups grated mozzarella and bit of cheddar I had laying around.) Top with the toppings of your choice. Here tonight it was sliced olives, pepperoni, and chopped onions. Bake another 15 minutes or so, until done to your liking.