Chicken experiment:Meal 4

 So, brought the broth and bones in from the porch this morning and strained it well, Stripped any meat I could and rid myself of the rest. Remember the fat and drippings from the pan that I set aside? That went into the broth as well as some gravy I had in the fridge from a different meal on last Sunday. I added about 2 cups of water because the whole thing was very thick, like 1/2 set jelly. Took the meat from my last leg, chopped it up with an onion and a few carrots and cooked it about an hour before I put the dumplings in. I forgot the celery but i'm not too worried about that. The dumpling recipe is new to me and it seems to be working up well. Time to test it!

Whatever leftovers there are from tonight will make lunch tomorrow. 

Oh, I had plenty left over from my fried rice last night that I had a midnight snack and lunch today!!

Chicken experiment: Meal 3

 And prep for meal 4 and possibly 5! 

Today was about breaking down the carcass. I pulled the wings off and tossed them in a pot. I broke the legs off and set them aside. The carcass already having been stripped of the breasts I tossed it in the pot too and covered it with just enough water to put it on to boil. I stripped one leg putting the meat into a bowl for dinner tonight which will be fried rice. The other leg I stripped and set the meat aside for tomorrow. Tossing the bones in the pot to boil along with the rest.

I have 2 cups of leftover rice and pulled a cup of peas from the freezer. I peeled and small diced 2 carrots. I grated 2 cloves of garlic and a small chunk of ginger. I will soak the chicken meat after I cut it in a a couple tablespoons of broth to add some moisture back to it before beginning to fry everything together. I will start off with 1/2 an onion, add the garlic and ginger then the rice. Once that is heated through I will add the chicken and the vegetables. I will make a space in the center and put 2 eggs beaten once cooked through I will add soy sauce and stir it through, once done, it's finished.

As for the boiling carcass I will let that simmer until near bedtime, I will take it off to cool and stick it on my porch as my fridge is currently occupied with a defrosting turkey. Yes, it is cold enough for it to be safe out there. In the morning I will strain it and begin meal number 4.

Chicken Experiment: Meal 2

 This afternoon I took out the chicken and carved the second breast off of it. I tore it up and put in about 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce and 1 Tbsp of water in a pan and turned it on med to heat it up. I also took 1 1/2 cups dry rice and made rice. I ate about 1/3 of the rice with the chicken and will put away the rest to make fried rice either tonight or tomorrow. 

Chicken experiment: Meal 1

 So, for various reasons I will not get into I spend most of my time living as a single person. This means cooking for one which is very hard for me to find the motivation to do. I have a challenge for myself though. The other day I saw a chicken (whole) for sale in my local grocery store and I decided to challenge myself to make as many meals from my chicken as possible and to document them here. So here goes!

Day one!
I have decided to roast my chicken. I set my oven to 170°c, rubbed my chicken in a mix of half butter half mayonnaise and then sprinkled it with the Ankerkraut Brathähnchen gewürz (A certain company's roast chicken spice). I tented the pan with aluminum foil and set it in the oven for 2 hours, I then removed the foil and cooked it 1/2 an hour more. After resting it about 10 minutes I sliced off the breast and served it with leftover spätzle and peas from last night. I put some drippings in a cup to dip my chicken in. I will save the rest of the chicken for tomorrow.

Tomato soup

 A friend is putting together a cookbook of recipes that she and her friends etc have been eating during this lock down. While I have been eating this since before that it has become a staple for me. I eat it once a week. I usually add dumplings but there is so much you can do with a good tomato soup.

1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 sm Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Red Pepper flakes, crushed
2 Tbsp Tomato paste
1 Tbsp fresh Thyme (add other herbs, use dry, it's all good)
56 oz Tomatoes, whole canned
2 c Water or stock (chicken or veggie is my normal go to)
Salt and pepper to taste
a HEAVY pinch of sugar (like a tsp)

Soften the onions in the oil

Add the garlic

Add red pepper flakes and tomato paste

Cook until the paste is deep red (2-3 min)

Add tomatoes and thyme

Add the stock

Cook for 10 min

Blend with an immersion blender or use a regular blender and blend until smooth

Add sugar and salt and pepper to taste.

Note:
The sugar helps tame the acidity of the tomatoes, you don't need a lot but it does make a difference

Tuna on toast

Cold days, lazy days, just because, my Gram used to make this for me. My daughter now loves it too.

2 Tbsp Butter
2 1/2 - 3 Tbsp Flour
1 1/2 C Milk
1 C Peas (I defrost frozen ones, leftovers or canned work too)
1 Can Tuna Fish, drained well
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan
Add the flour and cook for a min or two
Slowly add the milk and stir together well
Cook until thickened (about 5 minutes)
Add the Peas and the Tuna

serve over toast or with toast triangles

Simple and easy

Favorite Muffins

Yes it has been too long since I last posted. Sorry.

This recipe was stolen out of my 2nd husband's cookbook. While I never make them plain this is a great base for any flavor of muffins. Most often I make chocolate chip but apple cinnamon are great and of course classic blueberry.

Basic recipe:

1 egg beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1/2 sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Sift dry ingredients together
In a separate bowl mix all the wet ingredients together and beat
Add wet to dry and stir until moist
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full (about 1/4 -1/3 cup)
Bake at 400°f (200°c) 20-25 min

If you want to add fruit or chocolate chips you will need about 1/2 cup of what you are mixing in.

Ideas:
Chocolate chips
Blueberries
Raspberries
Cherries
If chocolate and fruit use 1/3 c of each
Apples, can be topped with a 'crumb topping' (butter, oatmeal and sugar with cinnamon or spices)

Go nuts! Add nuts!

Meatloaf

I've been sick and struggling with some personal things and when this happens I turn to comfort foods. A conversation has lead me to telling you about one in particular.

My mom wasn't a great cook, actually when I was a kid she very rarely cooked. It was box macaroni and cheese, cup of soup or take out. On a super rare occasion she would however make meatloaf and for some reason, I loved it! When I had my son Aiden she wanted to help me out so she asked if she could make some dinners for me. I begged for her meatloaf first thing. Always with mashed potatoes and the veggie varies. If I had my way I would eat it with buttered baby lima beans, but, as I can't get those, peas , broccoli or mixed veg are good substitutes.

My recipe is simple and is 1/2 recipe 1/2 instructions... Meatloaf is simple.

Basic ingredients:

Ground beef (you could use other meats)                 500 gm (1 lb)
Oatmeal                                                                     3/4 cup ( roughly estimated)
Onion (chopped)                                                        a small onion
Italian seasoning                                                        1 tsp or so
Parsely                                                                       1 Tbsp or so
Beef bouillon (powder is best)                                  1 tsp
Egg                                                                            1
Ketchup (or BBQ sauce, or tomato paste)                2 Tbsp (if using paste thin it some)
Salt and Pepper                                                         to taste

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl
Shape into a loaf and or put into a bread pan
Top with more ketchup or BBQ sauce
Bake at 375°f for about an hour

Leftovers

Sometimes I plan for them, other times they just happen. Tonight it is leftover pasta and some chili I had in the freezer. Baked under a lovely blanket of cheese. 😁 The chili was a planned leftover. I like to freeze chili, soup, stew or other items to use up later when the kids aren't around. Saves some trouble cooking and they are yummy!

I had chicken leftover last week and turned it into a 'gravy'. Normally you would make it with a can of condensed chicken soup but I have a recipe that gets me around that. 😉Just chop the chicken, add peas and carrots. Made some biscuits and poured it over. I had leftovers from that with toast. I could have made pies and used it as a filling but that was too much work for just me. The leftover biscuits I could eat with butter.

Leftovers are a great way to experiment and have fun with food.

What do you do with your leftovers?

Traditions (Hoppin John)

It seems with the holiday I missed posting. That's OK, not sure anyone was exactly waiting with baited breath for my next post. Though I like to try to keep it regular I am learning to go with the flow.

Normally this is a time of resolutions. A lot of them centered around food. To eat healthier, change one's diet, become a vegetarian, etc.. I am taking a different approach this year to it, I am going to work on being kinder to myself. And not beating myself up over a missed or late post.

Now on to some food.

Many places have traditions on what to eat for a last meal or a first meal to try and bring luck in the coming year. The American south has a strong tradition of 'Hoppin John' (a black eyed pea stew of sorts) and greens to bring luck and draw money. Needing a bit of both myself I searched recipes of Hoppin John . I have made it in the past but never felt it was quite right. I am leagues closer that ever before, In fact this is a recipe well worth repeating.

8 oz dry black eyed peas
300 gm Cabanossi ( or other sausage, Andui is more traditional)
2 Tbsp Salt pork (diced small)
1 small onion (diced)
1/2 Green Pepper
3 cloves Garlic (crushed or minced)
2 cups Vegetable broth
1 tsp Tony's ( a cajun spice mix)

Pre cook the beans by boiling in water or broth. Cook until soft.
Cook the sausage until browned, remove from the pan leaving the grease
Add the salt pork to the grease and fry for 5 min , leave in the pan
Add the peppers and onions, cook until soft
Add the garlic and cook quickly, 30 sec to 1 min
Add the broth
Add Spices
Add the peas, cook until the beans are creamy and the liquid is almost gone.
Add salt and pepper to taste

Iy you want it soupier and less thick add more broth or water.