WendyBinCT's Profile
the best cream of mushroom soup --- please
This version achieves creaminess without cream, thanks to the addition of potato.
Wendy’s Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup dried mushrooms (about 1/2 ounce)
2 cups boiling water
1 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms (about 12 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped shallots or onion
2 garlic cloves, grated or minced
1 cup diced peeled baking potato or leftover mashed potato
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons sherry
Optional garnish:
Minced parsley or sliced chives or sliced scallion
A few drops of truffle oil
Combine the dried mushrooms and boiling water in a bowl; cover and let stand 30 minutes. Lift rehydrated mushrooms from the liquid; rinse, chop and set aside. Strain soaking liquid through cheesecloth or a coffee filter to remove any grit; set aside.
Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cremini mushrooms and shallots; sauté 6 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, 30 seconds. Stir in the rehydrated mushrooms, reserved liquid, and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until potato is tender.
In a blender, puree soup in batches.
Return soup to the saucepan. Stir in sherry.
Garnish as desired and serve.
Yield: 4 servings
Your mom's weird cooking ... and other stories? (recipes encouraged)
Two words: jelly omelets.
improving store sauerkraut
Gosh, you're probably already chowing down. Next time, try adding a half teaspoon of caraway seeds (or more to taste) for every pound of sauerkraut, plus one apple, peeled, cored and diced or shredded.
Another nice addition: some fat to mellow the sourness. If your crowd is OK with pork, start by cutting four slices of bacon into half inch strips, sauté them to render the fat, then stir in the kraut and apple. Alternatively, sauté your kraut in a couple of tablespoons of butter.
You can also add a half cup of cider, beer, or chicken broth.
Breading without eggs?
Yes, either buttermilk or plain yogurt will guarantee tender, moist chicken. Season the marinade with garlic, cumin, salt and pepper, and if you like a bit of heat, some hot pepper sauce or cayenne pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, up to overnight. Lift chicken out of the marinade, allowing extra to drip away. Dredge in your breading of choice. At this point, it is wise to refrigerate breaded chicken for half an hour, so crumbs will adhere well. Then bake.
An alternative glue for breading is a thin coating of mustard, perhaps mixed half-and-half with marmalade or apricot jam.
Vietnamese (particularly Pho) in Ffld Cty
FWIW, I met a friend for lunch at Pho Mekong on Monday. She had one of the lunch specials, Pra-Raam Chicken (stir fried with spinach, cashews and peanut sauce). She got a smallish portion with a choice of house salad or soup. I ordered Pho Tai (delectable broth with rice noodles, cilantro and slivers of beef, but no tripe or tendon). I was served a HUGE bowlful -- I consumed as much as I could, and took home a quart container three-quarters full -- with a heap of fresh bean sprouts, a generous sprig of Thai basil, and sriracha sauce. The difference in portion size is undoubtedly because I ordered from the regular menu -- pho was not offered as a lunch special. Pra-Raam Chicken on the regular menu costs $4 more, and would probably be a larger serving. Since this was my first pho experience, I can hardly vouch for its authenticity, but my soup and my friend's meal were both delicious, and we plan to return.
What is up with the cheese sandwiches?
Oh, dear, givemecarbs, your post has me wallowing in a Pity Party. Give me carbs too, but not my Mom's cheese sandwiches.
Both my parents worked, so preparation of school lunches in our house was a very streamlined procedure. Every weekend as I was growing up, Mom made 10 sandwiches, five for me and five for my sister Marcie. Each was either peanut butter and jelly or one slice of processed cheese and one slice of processed meat (usually bologna or olive loaf) on dry white bread. Ack! Every weekday morning, Marcie and I would stuff one icy sandwich and a box of raisins in a brown paper bag, and grab money to buy a half-pint of milk in the school cafeteria. I don't really like raisins, but the alternative dessert on offer, an apple, was guaranteed to produce a deformed sandwich by lunchtime.
Mom's Friday night toasted cheese sandwiches were Velveeta on white bread toasted DRY under the broiler. Over time her recipe has evolved. Now she uses fat-free processed cheese food! Love her to bits, but she is a dreadful cook.
Lavender
Mark Bittman has an article about cooking with lavender in this week's New York Times. Check out the links to his recipe and video, too.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/dining/27mini.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin
When the waiter wants to clear the dishes before everyone is done
My DH (twice my size) usually finishes his meal when I am half through mine. I like to take my restaurant leftovers home, but don't want to be stuck with the only plate at an otherwise cleared table. If an eager server tries to clear my sweetheart's place before I'm ready to pack up and go, he simply extends his hand over his plate, smiles up and says "Not yet." This way we can both eat at our own pace, with neither one feeling pressured to rush or slow down.
Any tasty recipies for boneless chicken breasts?
Braising certainly retains moisture!
Here's my version of a Daisy Martinez recipe, very moist and incredibly flavorful:
Braised Chicken with Figs
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. olive oil
6 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. adobo seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/2 cup sherry or 1/4 cup cognac
1/2 cup fig jam (see Note below)
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp. cilantro (I prefer parsley)
Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper and dredge in flour.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add chicken and sauté until golden brown, about 7 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Add bacon to the pan and cook until bacon is crisp and fat is rendered. Remove bacon and place on paper towels. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat and reduce heat to medium.
Add onion, carrots and celery and sauté until golden and tender, about 10 minutes.
Add tomato paste, garlic, adobo seasoning and thyme, stir for about 1 minute.
Remove pot from heat, add sherry or cognac, return to heat and stir well to deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add fig jam and broth.
(At this point, I pour the vegetables and liquid from the pot into a blender and puree, then return the pureed ingredients to the pot.)
Stir in lemon juice and zest and bring to a simmer. Add chicken and bacon with any accumulated juices to the pot. When liquid returns to a simmer, cover and simmer gently until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cilantro (or parsley) and serve with yellow rice.
Note: If you are not able to find fig jam, substitute 8 dried Mission figs, stems removed, cut in quarters. Combine them with broth in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high 4 minutes. Set aside to let figs soak.
Yield: 4 servings
Things I ate/drank in college that I will never eat again
Food:
Squirt can cheese on Ritz crackers
Dried beef sticks
Fake frikadellers: little meatballs in a sauce of half ketchup, half applesauce
Tuna noodle casserole with crushed potato chips on top
Beverages:
Mateus
Blue Nun
Cold Duck
Sangria made with Gallo Hearty Burgundy
braising greens
To janniecooks I say, Amen! A lovely tutorial.
If at some point in the future you want to expand this meta-recipe a bit further, drucie, sauté some diced onion or minced shallot in the oil before adding the garlic, stir in a tablespoon or two of fresh lemon juice or sherry vinegar at the end, with a tablespoon or two of brown sugar... and season to taste with salt and pepper.
You can replace chicken broth with beer or dry white wine.
Another variation: Saute several strips of bacon until crisp, remove, crumble and set aside. Saute greens in the bacon fat, then garnish your finished dish with the bacon bits.
Lingonberry Preserves
IHoP serves lingonberry preserves (both straight and whipped into butter) with Swedish Pancakes -- eggy crepes folded in quarters. When I order cheese blintzes at IHoP, I request mine topped with lingonberry (instead of strawberry) preserves, and sour cream. Yum!
Quinoa - New Jfood Favorite
For steaming quinoa, you need a fine-meshed strainer with a metal frame.
Measure the quinoa and place it in the strainer.
Set the strainer over a large bowl and run cold water over the grains, swirling them with impeccably clean fingers, or a spoon or spatula, until the bowl is full.
Lift strainer, discard the cloudy water, repeat (3 to 5 changes of water) until water is mostly clear. (This rinsing is necessary to remove saponin, a soapy coating on the grains.)
In a saucepan, bring two cups of water or stock to a boil for every cup of quinoa. Add quinoa, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.
Drain quinoa back into the sieve. Place quinoa in its sieve over a saucepan (perhaps the same one) with at least an inch of boiling water. The quinoa and sieve should not touch the water. Cover the sieve with a towel, and cover the towel with a lid -- don't worry if the fit is not exact. Steam for 10 minutes.
Spread quinoa on a large tray to cool.
Steaming produces a light, fluffy texture ideal for a salad.
Quinoa - New Jfood Favorite
Jfood, nice to hear you're having fun with a new ingredient. That salad sounds heavenly! Some optional additions for your next round:
4 to 6 scallions, sliced OR 1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 ripe mango, peeled and diced
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
Harissa to taste
DH and I had quinoa for the first time visiting friends in Miami, and came home with two boxes of Ancient Harvest Inca Red grains, very pretty mixed half-and-half with the more widely available buff-colored version. Ordering info and lots of recipes here:
http://www.quinoa.net/
The following Martha Stewart recipe is easy and delicious:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/spicy-lemon-quinoa
Silpat Baking Mat
Wish I could help, buzzbuzzbee, but I haven't had your problem of lurking fishiness, and can't guarantee a solution. My best suggestion: give your Silpat a soak with some dishwashing liquid and baking soda.
Penzey's signature spice mixes
Since this thread has been resurrected, I'll send my gratitude to LindaWhit for suggesting Mural of Flavor. It enhances just about everything. A new fave!
Seeking baked beans recipe
Check out the following thread for my recipe (and others), and a link to yet another thread:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/446554
Enjoy!
Falafel update ?
Well, this thread really got my mouth watering, so I took myself on a little Norwalk road trip today and can now offer my own enthusiastic thumbs-up to Falafel Inn, 333 Westport Ave. (Route 1). Yes, jfood it's about a half mile east of Penzey's, on the same (north) side, in a little strip center with a hardware store. (Except for the route number this place matches the one mentioned by lovesublime.) Brought home a side of falafel with tahini for $1.99, an unbeatable bargain, cooked fresh to order, sizzling and crispy. I liked 'em best with a dash of hot sauce. Also bought a small tub of exceptional, smoky baba ghanoush for $2.99. Told the lovely young woman behind the counter that I had seen good reviews here in Chowhound, and she was happy to hear it, and said another fellow had mentioned the same thing. Website with menu and coupons: www.falafel-inn.com
Silly Eating Habits
As I related above, my DH follows your strategy to ensure arriving at the finish line of a plate with one bite of each item. Like your loved ones, I occasionally frazzle his nerves by suggesting, late in the game, that I'd love a taste of this or that! To his credit, he always manages to swallow his obvious dismay, and I always graciously refuse his offer.
Silly Eating Habits
Excellent thread!
Like others here, I'm a bit obsessive about spreading butter across every millimeter of toast. Similarly, cream cheese coast-to-coast across my bagel -- gotta be a spread, not a mere schmear -- and mayo on a sandwich. Hot dogs get mustard on both sides of the bun.
When enjoying cold cuts, I prefer my sandwiches to contain either meat or cheese, not both, with veggie garnishes on either... always distributed evenly.
Corn chomped across, wide end to narrow.
My DH concludes a repast with one bite of each item on his plate. If I wait too long to request a taste of something, I can really throw his evening-up process out of whack, so I'm careful not to do this -- but sometimes tease him by asking for a late morsel just to observe his alarm (and relief when I demur).
Our daughter has an extremely silly food-related OCD trait. She must have at least two entrée options in the fridge before preparing dinner, so she can have a choice. This is not much of a problem for me now that she is grown and living independently, but it sure can be exasperating when she visits for a holiday and every bit of fridge space is filled with turkey (or whatever) and fixings! (And no, cereal or a sandwich will not do. Sigh!)
Food textures -- do they ick you out?
Hmmm... my DH's ancestors came from Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. All along the northern edges of Europe. And his issue is entirely texture, not flavor. Like Firegoat, he's perfectly fine with onions and tomatoes in soup, gravy or pasta sauce, as long as I puree them in a blender before serving.
What do I do with farro, white truffle oil, and fancy vinegars?
Only have experience with two of your fabulous new gourmet ingredients.
Tarragon Champagne Vinegar is superb combined with extra virgin olive oil in homemade vinaigrette for salads, or as a marinade for chicken, as others have already suggested.
White Truffle Oil imparts an intoxicating, intense mushroom flavor when drizzled (sparingly!) over mushroom risotto, mushroom soup or a mushroom omelet.
Food textures -- do they ick you out?
Thanks for launching this fascinating topic, Firegoat! Genetic sensitivity certainly seems to be a possibility in our family. Given my DH's virtually allergic reaction to onions, I never served them at home when our kids were young. When our son was a toddler, and I took him out for a kiddie meal, he freaked and tore every tiny scrap of onion off his burger. Definitely not learned behavior, or a rebellious reaction.
Quesadillas - any unique recipes??
I prepared a supper of quesadillas for a bunch of female friends, some of whom are vegetarian, so the four combos I put together contained no meat, but were tasty and well-received:
1. Pesto, crumbled goat cheese, roasted red pepper
2. White bean puree (with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and herbs), arugula
3. Caramelized onions, Jarlsberg
4. Mushroom puree, Monterey Jack
Food textures -- do they ick you out?
I am totally grossed out by the mucilaginous texture of boiled okra. Eeuw! Slime! My solution? I pass on gumbo, and stick to crispy fried okra, either Southern-style coated in cornmeal, or in the spicy Indian dish Sunheri Bindi. Of course, it's much easier to avoid gumbo than dishes prepared with onions or tomatoes! Like you, my DH detests the slippery feel of onions and tomatoes, raw or cooked, and feels the same about mushrooms. Sigh! That really limits his menu choices, but we've been married 33 years, and I accepted a long time ago that he simply isn't going to outgrow these antipathies. I cook what I please for myself, and prepare dishes for Himself that I know he will enjoy. Sometimes we have the same food for dinner, sometimes not.
saffron rice - what's the secret?
If you're seeking gorgeous, golden color (and a mildly nutty, appealing flavor), you might consider preparing your rice with achiote oil instead of saffron. After several disappointing attempts to make saffron rice (not enough color or too much funky off-taste), I am an enthusiastic convert. Here's Daisy Martinez' recipe for achiote oil:
http://daisycooks.com/pages/recipes_detail.cfm?ID=2
For arroz amarillo (yellow rice), simmer each cup of raw rice with two cups of water, a teaspoon of salt, and two or three tablespoons of achiote oil.
Dinner tonight: Moroccan
Last month the New York Times published an article suggesting a Moroccan-style sausage sandwich, with a link to a recipe for harissa, a spicy Moroccan condiment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/dining/30sand.html?scp=1&sq=harissa&st=nyt
And in March, the NYT Magazine included Ana Sortun's recipe for Moroccan Chicken Dumplings:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/magazine/25food.txt.html?scp=6&sq=ana+sortun&st=nyt
Fava beans are popular in Moroccan cuisine, either served as a salad with onion and garlic in a lemony vinaigrette, or pureed with garlic, cumin, lemon juice and olive oil to create a hummus-like spread called bissara.
You could steam some sliced carrots, and serve warm with capers and a dusting of paprika, or chilled in vinaigrette with garlic and parsley.
Other typical Moroccan sides: rice pilaf or couscous, cucumber salad, diced tomato and onion, marinated olives, mint tea.
New to Norwalk - What are the Must Haves?
One more welcome to the neighborhood!
The following thread discusses good local places to shop for chow, in addition to Trader Joe's and Stew Leonard's:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/468513
Best Brunch in Fairfield County
Check out this recent thread:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/470727
