Chicken Cilantro Bisque

I am going to try and cook a bit healthier the next few months.

Here is a Chicken Cilantro Bisque that turn out nicely. I just used canned chicken breast here ( in a lunch rush), but a nice poached breast in it would probably be wonderful.

Chicken Cilantro Bisque

3 each chicken bouillon cubes
2 1/2 cups water
5 ounces canned chicken — in water
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic — chopped
1/2 each onion — chopped
2 each celery ribs — chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces skim milk, evaporated
pepper — to taste

Bring the water, bouillion cubes, chicken, cilantro, garlic, onion and celery to a boil. Add cumin and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Transfer this mixture (cooled a bit) to a blender and add flour. Blend until smooth watching that the lid doesn’t pop off.

Pour back into the pot and bring to a boil until thick. Reduce heat and don’t boil again. Add the evaporated milk and pepper to taste.

Serve warm and if reheating don’t boil.

4 servings at 182 calories each

Ms. Ray to My Rescue Again!

I have quite a bit of pumpkin puree that I grew, pureed, and froze from last year so when I saw Rachael Ray doing a chicken dish with a pumpkin chipotle polenta I figured I had to give it a try. Ms. Ray to rescue my pumpkin dilemma!

I am so glad I tried the dish, as the polenta is so good and the grilled chicken and pineapple salsa complement it very well.

I am not sure I got all her ingredients just right but I believe it was close.

I did add a bit of honey to the salsa also.

I also had a chicken breast and some salsa left over so the next day I just chopped up the chicken and added it and the salsa with some mayo and mustard for a refreshing pineapple chicken salad. Very good for two days worth of meals.

The Recipe ( I can’t remember what she called it but I would call it-
Barbeque Chicken with Pumpkin Polenta and Salsa

FOR CHICKEN
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 T grill seasoning ( I don’t buy the stuff and just used a saltless seasoning mix I put together )
2 palms chili powder
1 palm cumin
1 palm coriander
2 T brown sugar
evoo
FOR SALSA
1/4 grilled pineapple
bell pepper ( she used yellow I had green), chopped
tomato, chopped
onion (she used red but I only had white), chopped
lime juice
salt and pepper
evoo
FOR POLENTA
1 chipotle pepper ( she removed the seeds but I didn’t)
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
2 C chicken stock
1 C milk
1 cup polenta ( I used cornmeal) 3 to one ratio on the liquid vs.. The cornmeal
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 teaspoon honey
3 T butter
salt and pepper

FOR CHICKEN- mix together your seasonings in a freezer bag. Drizzle the breasts with the evoo and put them in the bag to cover with the seasonings. Heat up a stovetop grill to medium and grill the chicken until done.

FOR SALSA- Peel and core the pineapple and then grill the wedges on your stovetop grill. Take it off and let it cool then chop and add with all other chopped ingredients. Drizzle with lime juice and season with salt and pepper.

FOR POLENTA– Chop one chipotle pepper ( she seeded the chili) and put in a saucepan with the stock, milk, and adobo sauce. Bring it to a boil on the stovetop and then add your cornmeal (polenta) and cook until thick.
Add your pumpkin puree and honey and butter ( I omited the butter and it was still very good) . Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the chicken on a bed of polenta (heaven) with the salsa.

Pinwheels and Homemade Biscuit Quick

The doctor recently put me on medication for a short period where I had to eat breakfast. I am not a fan of breakfast unless it is something like cinnamon toast or anything resembling cinnamon toast.

I will happily eat these simple pinwheels, but the downfall is I can’t stop at just one.

You can ice these pinwheels because the tops are very nondescript when they come out of the oven.

I however just love to eat them warm, but they must be turned upside down on the plate for me because the bottoms are gooey, cinnamony ( is that a word?), heaven.

I never buy biscuit mix but I do keep my own stored in this container with a copy of the recipe in a baggie inside.

The container is big enough that I can just throw all the ingredients inside and then cut the shorting into the flour with my very clean fingers and hands.

The baggie keeps the recipe in tact, down in the flour, and I never have to search for my recipe when I run out of homemade biscuit quick.

homemade biscuit quick

5 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1/8 cup baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cream of tartar
1/8 cup sugar
cut in 1 cup non trans fat shorting

store tightly covered at room temperature and use in any recipe that calls for biscuit mix.
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Pinwheels

2 cups homemade biscuit quick
2/3 cup milk
1/2 stick butter
3/4 to 1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
chopped pecans

Mix your milk with your biscuit mix to form a very sticky dough. Flour a work surface well and mound the dough to knead about 3 – 4 times. Roll dough out into a rectangle.

In a glass measure melt your butter, brown sugar and cinnamon together in the microwave. Spread this mixture on top of your dough rectangle and then top with pecans.

starting with a long edge of the rectangle roll the dough so the sugar mixture is inside. Cut 3/4 inch pieces and place cut side down in greased muffin tins.

Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for about 12 – 15 minutes. Remove from tins while still warm and serve warm.

You can ice them with a powder sugar icing if you wish.

Italian Meatball and Rigatoni

Andreas Recipes is hosting a grow your own event where you post recipes where you have grown one or more of the ingredients.

I love growing my own ingredients so I thought I would enter with my Italian Meatball and Rigatoni.

The ingredients I grew in this recipe are the roasted tomatoes, peppers, onion, oregano, basil and thyme.

They had been frozen from last fall except for the thyme which is fresh from my sunroom window, and italian seasoning mix which I had dried from last fall.

The basil was frozen in olive oil and the tomatoes roasted with garlic, onion, and oregano before freezing.

MEATBALLS
1 pound lean ground turkey ( or lean ground chicken)
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
1 egg
1 teaspoon dried italian seasonings
1/8 cup parmesan cheese grated
pinch salt and pepper
SOUP
1 large onion chopped
5 cups beef broth
2 cups roasted italian tomatoes with garlic
1/2 cup chopped fine peppers- mixture of hot and sweet, red and green
1 large can mushrooms, drained
2 tablespoons fresh frozen basil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
4 -5 ounces Rigatoni
salt and pepper to taste

First mix together the meatball mixture and roll into 1 inch balls.

Spray a soup pot with cooking spray and start frying your soup onions on stovetop then put in your beef broth. Bring broth to a boil and carefully add your meatballs to cook in the broth.

After about 10 minutes the meatballs should be firm. Add the remaining soup ingredients except the rigatoni pasta. Simmer on stovetop for about an hour.

About 11 minutes before serving add your rigatoni pasta and cook 11 – 12 minutes to al dente. The mixture should get thick and stew like from the pasta starch. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot with- (suggestion) garlic bread and salad.

Beef In The News

I watched that horrible news release last night of the cattle at that meat plant being shoved with forklifts and not able to walk and stuff.

It was enough to make me want to turn vegetarian, but I am sure my hubby would not agree to that.

What is the world coming to?
Now they are recalling all that beef and it was sent to schools.
Much of it has already been consumed.

Poor cattle pushed and shoved and now to be in vain as the meat is thrown out.

It made me cry.

I know I could never be vegetarian however..I don’t think I could.

Orange Oven “Fried” Pork Chops and My Fav Asparagus

I said I wanted to come up with orange recipes and I meant it. This pork chop recipe is something I came up with to also help me cook lighter and leaner.

Orange Oven “Fried” Pork Chops

5 pork chops
cooking spray
FOR BREADING
5 slices wheat toast
1 tablespoon dried italian seasoning
pinch of garlic salt
1 teaspoon dried onion flakes
zest from 1 orange
FOR BINDER
Juice from 1 orange
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch paprika
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a broiler pan with cooking spray.

Toast your wheat bread.
Process all breading ingredients in a food processor until fine crumbs.

Mix all binder ingredients and dip each pork chop into binder then into breading, pressing the breading into the chop as well as possible with your fingers.

Transfer the chop to the broiler pan and spray each top with cooking spray.

Bake 20 – 25 minutes then turn each chop over and return to bake another 15 – 20 minutes depending on the thickness of your pork chops.

I paired the chops with my very favorite asparagus recipe and some simple mac and cheese ( so much for the lighter leaner chops).

The asparagus is so good and simple. Just place the trimed asparagus in a casserole with a tight fitting lid then drizzle with EVOO. Top it with lemon slices and 2 bay leaves and some kosher salt. Bake in 425 degrees tightly covered about 20 – 25 minutes.

I kid you not, it is
the very best way to cook asparagus in my opinion.

Ring for Valentines

Hubby got me a ring for Valentines Day.

It is actually a candy ring but I don’t think I want to eat it…. but save it.
He also got me some truffles but I liked the candy ring the best.

Baked Orange Chicken and Couscous

Being out of oranges and couscous recently as I shopped, I stocked up on both items.

Now that I was overflowing in couscous and orange I decided I needed to come up with another dish to use them both.

1 orange –
I took the juice, pulp, and zest from one orange and cooked it with 1/4 cup sugar on the stove top until thick to come up with a marmalade of sorts.

2 orange –
I then take 1/4 cup corn flakes with the zest from one orange and 1 tablespoon flour and popped them in a food processor with one of my home dried garden chilies.

With the juice from that orange I soaked two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cut them into 1 inch pieces to dredge into the cornflakes mixture.
Bake the chicken pieces on a sprayed cookie sheet at 350 for about 10 minutes then stir and bake another 10 minutes until juices run clear.

3 orange –
Saute 1/2 chopped onion with 1 rib chopped celery and the zest from the orange. Take the juice and enough water from that orange to make one cup then pour over the sauted onions with any pulp you can retrieve without the white pith. Bring to a boil and then add 1 cup couscous. Remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes.

4 orange –
Now saute the other 1/2 onion with 2 cloves garlic. Add the marmalade and 1 tablespoon plum sauce and some soy sauce with enough juice and zest from this orange to make a thick sauce. Add a pinch of hot pepper flakes and salt to taste.

To serve make a bed of the couscous and top with the baked chicken. Pour the sauce over all and..

5 orange –
garnish with orange slices and fresh cilantro.

At least I used up a few of my oranges….. and it tasted great

Laura Calder’s Chocolate Mousse- CCC

The Feb. 2008 Cooking Club Challenge
link here
was to make Laura Calder’s Chocolate Mousse.

The problem I had…. I am egg phobic..mayo..mousse..raw egg..

I decided to melt the chocolate then cool a bit to beat in the yolk mixture. I then brought it back over the double boiler for about 4-5 minutes beating all the while. Then I folded in the egg white mixture and poured into individual martini glasses.

It turned out wonderful, but I had to omit the orange zest because I was out of oranges.

Hubby agreed I must make this mousse again, and perhaps the next round make sure I have orange zest.

Laura Calder’s Chocolate Mousse
INGREDIENTS:

5 ounces dark chocolate

4 egg whites

2 tbsps sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp orange zest

1 tbsp Cointreau

DIRECTIONS:
Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie (double boiler) until smooth. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks, sprinkle over the sugar, and continue beating to a stiff meringue, a minute or two longer.
Beat the yolks with the orange zest and Cointreau in a bowl.
Whisk the chocolate into the yolks. Fold in a spoonful of the whites, then pour the chocolate onto the remaining whites and fold gently to combine evenly. Pour the mousse into a serving bowl. Wrap well with plastic, and refrigerate at least a few hours. Serve garnished with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and a little orange zest.

Eat Your Heart Out

Zorra at 1 x umruhren bitte is doing a Valentine Event using edible “hearts”.

This gives new meaning to the saying..“Eat your heart out”, which is what I have been doing looking at all the great entries so far.

You can also view these edible heart entries at the roundup link.

My own entry is a simple
Chip Beef Gravy and Roasted Peppers with Heart Toasts

you will need-
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour ( 2 to 3)
1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers (save a couple of teaspoons for garnish)
1/2 cup chopped up chip beef
1 1/2 cups milk
pepper to taste
white bread slices toasted
1 heart cookie cutter

Melt the butter in a sauce pan with the chip beef. Saute a couple of minutes then add the flour and brown a bit before adding milk, roasted peppers and black pepper.

Stir over medium high heat until thickened.

Toast the white bread slices and using the cookie cutter, cut out hearts. (Save the outer portions of the bread to use in other recipes as breadcrumbs. Toasted breadcrumbs also freeze well until needed.)

To serve- place some gravy on a plate and nestle hearts beside. Garnish with a bit of roasted peppers and tarragon, ( or Mexican Tarragon like I did, as that is the only tarragon I can grow in my own sunroom through the winter months. )