Taco Soup

     I love, love, love, making soup or anything for that matter in my crock pot. There isn’t much more satisfying than coming home to a home cooked meal that is hot and ready to eat after a long day. Soup is a great meal to make because you can throw virtually anything in the pot and it will come out well. I had a recipe for taco soup that Christine got from a customer of hers. There were no directions on the paper, just ingredients, so I decided dumping them all in the crock would work. ANYONE, can make this soup because it is primarily canned vegetables and requires little prep work. Here is the recipe for those of you who want an easy soup to make:

1½ cups water

1 pound lean ground beef

1 large onion - chopped

1 12oz can crushed tomatoes

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1 4.5oz green chilies

1 14oz can whole kernel corn

1 packet ranch dressing

1 packet taco seasoning

     I didn’t have lean ground beef because I primarily buy 80/20, so I browned the beef in a pan until most of the fat had cooked out. But didn’t cook the beef completely through, because it would continue to cook while in the crock pot. Once the fat was drained I added the beef, water, and onion into the crock pot. There isn’t much water in the recipe because there will be a lot more coming from all of the cans. Next, I poured in the contents of both of the cans of tomatoes and the green chilies. I drained most of the water out of the canned corn because there is a lot in there and I didn’t want the soup to be too watery. Finally, I poured both of the packets’ contents on top of everything and mixed until combined. Large crock pots tend to cook hot so I set mine on low even though I would be home after a few hours since I did all of this on my lunch.

     When I got home the kitchen smelled wonderful with a spicy-tomato aroma in the air. All the vegetables had broken down and had become soft. The beef, while normally tough if cooked too long, was very moist. I topped each bowl with some cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Instead of crackers, I served tortilla chips on the side which provided a salty crunch to the meal. Christine and I both mixed the cheese and sour cream around in the soup which thickened it up a little bit but not too much. It is hard to describe the taste other than liquid taco filling but that is how it tasted. It didn’t turn out spicy like I had expected with the taco seasoning and chilies mixed in. That wasn’t a bad thing because it made the soup very light tasting despite its thickness. I will definitely be making this easy soup again, especially during the cold winter nights.

Rating: Delectable - One of the best soups I've made thus far. 

Spera's

     I wasn’t going to post about the burgers I made on Monday but I feel I should. Like tacos or pasta with sauce out of a jar, burgers aren’t something I would post about because they are too simple to make and I make them often. If I try a new recipe then I will certainly make a post but this post is more of a plug for my local meat market. Spera’s, located on Route 31, is about a block or two from my house and I couldn’t be happier about it. I have said this on both of my blogs but I'll say it again...they carry amazing meats in both the deli and the meat section. I haven’t bought meat from a grocery store since August, which is when I moved in to the house. Not only is their meat of good quality, but it is also WAY better priced than the grocery stores. I was able to pick up two burgers for $3.65. Now that doesn’t sound like a deal but when they were made of ground beef tenderloin I would have to disagree. Weighing in at just under a half of a pound each and over an inch in thickness they were beauties. I seasoned them lightly with Dinosaur BBQ’s foreplay grill spice. I didn’t use enough because they didn’t have a spicy taste to them. That didn’t matter though because even with the burgers being cooked to medium well, they were full of flavor and oozing juice all over our plates. When I pulled them from the grill they were the most perfect dark brown with black grill marks I’ve ever made. I don’t think 80/20 ground beef is going to do it anymore in our house and it shouldn’t do it in yours either. Go to Spera’s if you can because you won’t regret it.

Mom's Sauce & Baked Penne

     I have never made homemade tomato sauce before for a couple of reasons: 1) I’m not a huge red sauce fan despite having Italian in me 2) Everyone I know who makes sauce says it is a pain to make. We were having guests over so I decided to use my mom’s sauce recipe to make baked penne with. I’m not sure if my mom wants everyone in the world to have her recipe so I won’t post the exact measurements needed to duplicate it. It is very important that you do not use any metal utensils or pots when making this sauce as the acidity of the tomatoes in it will take on a metallic taste if you do. I used a wooden spoon to stir with and a plastic ladle to scoop the sauce out. I don’t have a Dutch oven so I substituted my large crock pot in its place.

     You need to render some of the fat from the sausage which is near impossible to do in a crock pot because it won’t get hot enough. Since there was no tomatoes used in this step, I sautéed the sausage with olive oil in a pan. Cook the sausage for about 10 minutes and then remove it from the pan. Since I was using a pan I had to modify the next step slightly, I added garlic to the drippings and sautéed that for a few minutes. Next, I added the drippings and garlic from the pan into the crock pot and mixed them with tomato paste. I had plugged the crock pot in and put it on high so it was hot enough to do the rest of the cooking needed. Once the mixture of drippings, garlic, and tomato paste turned a few shades darker, I added tomato puree, crushed tomatoes, and some water. I stirred everything up and dropped in the sausage links. The following seasonings are sprinkled on top: oregano, basil, parsley, salt, celery seed, and sugar. Stir the seasonings into the sauce until completely mixed with the tomatoes. If using a Dutch oven, turn the heat down to low and allow this to simmer for 3-4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Since I was using the crock pot, I left it on high and just kept an eye on it.

     About 30 minutes before adding the sauce to the pasta, I took all the sausage links out and chopped them down into small pieces and mixed it all back into the sauce. Thinking we were having 6 people total, I boiled 2 pounds of pasta in a large pot. Once the pasta was done, I ladled the sauce over it and mixed until it was all covered. As a final step I sprinkled mozzarella cheese over the pan of pasta and stuck it in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Once the cheese began to bubble and turn a golden brown in spots, I pulled it out and served it up.

     Everyone enjoyed the penne and I think the sauce had a lot to do with it. Like I said before, I’m not a huge fan of red sauce but it was good and I’m glad I took the time to make it from scratch. The sauce was very light and smooth which is nice for those of you who don’t like the chucky sauce most restaurants serve. Everyone had seconds so there was little left over and what was left was sent home with people and I’m having the last of it for lunch today.

Rating: Yummy - I know I'll make this again but it isn't a "must".

Lemon Pepper Chicken

     Marinating meats or vegetables is a great way to help keep them moist while cooking. There are hundreds upon thousands of marinade recipes that you can buy in stores but when making them at home possibilities are endless. Christine and I are fans of lemon pepper seasoning so for dinner last night I decided to make up a basic marinade to include some lemon pepper seasoning we recently purchased. Most marinades use oil, vinegar, seasoning, and a small amount of water. Using my knowledge of marinades and the help of the internet to confirm, I came up with this recipe:

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup water

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Lemon Pepper Seasoning

     I marinated one large chicken breast, which weighed in at just under a pound, for about 10 hours. The longer you leave the ingredient in the marinade the more tender it will become. This is true with marinades that do not contain citrus or any other highly acidic ingredient. A quick tip when it comes to using citrus in a marinade, do NOT marinate for more that an hour. Citrus begins to cook whatever you are marinating in it, so when using a citrus based marinade only use it to brush on while you cook. This marinade doesn’t contain citrus; so feel free to leave whatever you’re marinating for as long as you would like, within reason.

     Heat up a pan with a tablespoon or two of olive oil over a medium heat. Just before adding the chicken breast, I cut mine in half lengthwise because it was so thick. This ensured that it would cook quicker and more evenly. Let the chicken cook for about 5 – 6 minutes or until golden brown and then turn it over and continue to cook for the same amount of time. Meanwhile, I used a box of broccoli rice Rice-A-Roni for a side. Following the directions on the box, I browned the rice in a tablespoon of butter then added 2 cups of water and the seasoning packet. Once this comes to a boil, turn down the heat and cover with a tight fitting lid. This will simmer for about 20 minutes at which time I turned off the heat, uncovered, and fluffed after about 3 minutes. Since there was broccoli in the rice we omitted an extra vegetable and just had the chicken with it.

     The rice was as good as Rice-A-Roni can be, there isn’t a lot you can do to improve it so I won’t comment further. The chicken came out moist much like the kabobs did the night before. If you are a beginner in the kitchen, using marinades will help you get through your meals by reducing your chances of over cooking your main ingredient. The lemon part of the lemon pepper marinade was lacking, so we sprinkled a little extra seasoning on the chicken and that seemed to do the trick. Olive oil could replace the vegetable oil next time to give some sweetness to a very peppery dish. I wouldn’t add more seasoning because there was more than enough pepper that came through, perhaps adding some lemon juice during the cooking process would give us the lemony flavor we were looking for.

Rating: Yummy - The marinade needs some work but I'll keep trying.

Chicken and Vegetable Kabobs

     When we do get a nice day in Syracuse, a rarity I know, I like to bust out my charcoal grill. I believe that everything tastes better grilled, but it has to be charcoal not propane. Propane is good but doesn’t give you the same flavor that charcoal does. Kabobs are a quick thing to make using a grill. While the coals heat up, you can get all the prep work done. I marinated two chicken breasts all day in state fair speedie sauce. I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces which made about four skewers worth. For vegetables I cut up three peppers, one yellow, one red, and one orange. In addition to the peppers we added baby bella mushrooms that came pre cut and I chopped a sweet Vidalia onion as well. We were able to make five skewers of vegetables with two of them having no mushrooms on them because Matt was coming over.

     Once the coals were glowing red, Matt dumped them into the grill. Before putting the vegetable skewers on the grill, I brushed them with the speedie sauce that I left in the bottle. To prevent sticking, I sprayed the grate with some non-stick butter spray. Be very careful if you do this after you put the grate over the coals because the spray is flammable and flares will shoot up when you spray. Using a small circular grill is tough when making kabobs because the heat usually gets centralized so you may have to move the kabobs around as you cook them in ensure the chicken cooks through and the vegetables get softened. I ran into this problem but using my trusty Ov-Glove, I was able to move the kabobs all around without burning my fingers. While the chicken and vegetables cooked, I brushed them with speedie sauce occasionally to keep them from burning. Cooking times are going to be different depending on the amount of coals you use, the meat you are cooking, and how much space you have on the grill.

     We all enjoyed the flavoring that the speedie sauce gave the vegetables and chicken. The chicken was moist yet had a bit of a crunch on the outside which was a nice change in texture. The mushrooms practically fell apart upon removing them from the skewers and were my favorite ingredient. The peppers softened some but still had a crunch to them. Charring on the onions gave them a smoky flavor that went well with the sweetness that they give off. Sweet ingredients like the peppers and the onion benefit greatly from being grilled because the charred flavor gives them extra flavor and texture. As a side we had white rice, which Christine suggested as a lighter component to a very seasoned dish. This was a great choice, Christine and Matt had butter on theirs while I had soy sauce. Overall, a good meal that I will definitely make again as long as the weather allows it.

Rating: Yummy - This was one of the quickest meals I've made thus far.

Beef Cutlets

    One of my favorite comfort foods is breaded beef cutlets. I picked up some cutlets cut from sirloin at Spera’s on Sunday night. I have said this before on my sandwich blog: Spera’s has the best meat around, whether it is cold cuts, beef, chicken, pork, or anything else they carry. The package I bought had a little over 6/10ths a pound which was perfect for the two of us. Six sand dollar sized pieces were cut to about a quarter of an inch in thickness. For the breading, I use Italian style bread crumbs which you can buy in any grocery store. If you just have regular bread crumbs like I did, just add some Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and some extra parsley. Use one egg per pound of cutlets to moisten them enough for the bread crumbs to stick. I added a bit of milk to the egg instead of water when making the egg wash just as a personal preference. Heat up about three tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet and add the cutlets after breading them. Since the cutlets come so thin, I only cook them for about 3 minutes on each side at a medium high heat. Do NOT turn your attention away from them because they can burn very easily. Mine came out to the dark brown I was looking for.

     For sides I had pierogies and mixed vegetables. The mixed vegetables were the steam in bag type so I didn’t do anything extra to them. The pierogies were also frozen but I decided instead of baking them like I normally do, I would sauté them per suggestion of my co-workers. So like most of the stuff I make, I started by sautéing some minced garlic in olive oil and then added the pierogies. They cooked for about 12 minutes which heated them through but didn’t give them the crunch that I had hoped for. Since the cutlets were already out of the pan and onto the plates, I had to pull the pierogies before they could crisp up.

     The pierogies were soft but tasted fine and the garlic added some extra flavor. I don’t think I will sauté them again without adding more to the pan like onions. The beef cutlets came out just the way my mom makes them which is how I wanted them to come out. The meat was tender but cooked through to the point there was little to no pink in any of them. The breading stayed together for the most part; more oil would have ensured that. The simple breading mixture used in this dish can be used on any meat really but it is just the best on beef cutlets. No changes are need to these cutlets, just more practice in the act of making them.

Rating: Yummy - A quick and easy comfort food.

Broccoli Alfredo

     Next to corn, broccoli is by far my favorite vegetable. It is very versatile and it can be cooked in a variety of ways. When making broccoli Alfredo, the normal way of cooking the broccoli is to add it to the water with the pasta in the last 4 minutes of cooking. I decided to go a different route and sauté it instead. Before I started on the broccoli, I got a pot of boiling water going. A quick tip for those of you who cook a lot of pasta, add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the water before it begins to boil. This keeps the pasta from sticking together. I usually use fettuccini when making Alfredo but I decided to use the box of campanelle we picked up at the store. Campanelle is a corkscrew like pasta that I hadn’t seen before. I dumped in the whole box of pasta and got that cooking.

     In a small sauce pan I emptied a jar of four-cheese Alfredo sauce by Classico. I didn’t have the time to make my own sauce, nor did I feel like spending the money to do so. Alfredo sauce like all cheese based sauces costs quite a bit to make and comes out better in larger batches. Since I was only cooking for two, going with a jar is easier and less expensive. I turned the heat on low just to heat up the sauce and stirred every few minutes to keep the sauce from burning.

     For the broccoli I used two heads worth and broke them down into bite sized pieces. In a large skillet, I heated up olive oil and some minced garlic. After thoroughly washing the broccoli, I added it to the pan. It took about 10 to 15 minutes until the broccoli was cooked through. I cut up a tomato and threw it in with the broccoli; unfortunately it fell apart because the broccoli took longer than I expected to be done. A dash of salt and pepper along with a few sprinkles of parmesan cheese finished it off. Once I drained the pasta, I added the Alfredo sauce and mixed until all the pasta was covered. I spooned out a base of pasta on each plated and topped with the broccoli and tomato.

     The pasta came out well and the sauce was as good as a jar of sauce can taste. With more time I will make my own sauce next time. The broccoli with the tomato had a cheesy-garlic taste and was melt in your mouth soft. With homemade sauce this would have been a great dish but taking short cuts only made it a good dish.

Rating: Yummy - Homemade sauce is needed.