Magic Ingredients

Okay, let's be honest.  If you want a lot of flavor in a recipe, it's going to take time and it might take a lot of ingredients, the preparation of which may lead to even more time.

So, if you're going to go simple with your food, you're probably going to need a magic ingredient.  For the Italian Chicken Rice Soup, the magic ingredient was a fabulous Classico spaghetti sauce, that gave the soup the flavor of having been simmered all day.

For this yummy soup (just right for the wintry weather that they say is headed our way today!!), the magic ingredient is:

In this case, I am paying someone else to take the time to round up the tomatillos, chiles, cilantro, and onion and roast, chop, and combine them.  In return I get a delicious Salsa Verde to flavor my soup and to make it taste like, in fact, I roasted, chopped, and combined those very ingredients.

I would actually love to make my own Salsa Verde for this soup.  But that's the trade-off for simple.  There are times I let someone else do a time-consuming part of my cooking.  Sometimes.

Now, once I've let these nice people provide my soup with this awesome flavor, I add in chicken, cannellini beans, broth, corn, and spices.

Top with  some tortilla chips, sour cream and green onion, and you've got a soup that will make everyone in the family smile tonight (as the snow softly drifts and swirls outside . . . positive thinking!)  You can tell that snow is not a daily occurrence down here in the South.  It's still an occasional idealistic treat for us.

And that, friends, is the secret of magic ingredients, that makes simple taste like amazing.  Occasionally you CAN get the best of both worlds!!


Southwestern Chicken Soup (serves 4--I double!!)
1-12 oz. jar salsa verde
3 cups cooked chicken
1-15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained
3 cups chicken broth
8 oz. frozen corn
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili (Are you kidding??  I definitely double this!)
sour cream, tortilla chips, sliced green onion for toppings

Empty salsa verde into large sauce pan.  (If you double, use a Dutch oven.)  Simmer 2 minutes over medium-high heat.  Add chicken, beans, broth, corn, and spices.  Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer, and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Top each bowl with chips, sour cream, and sliced green onions.

Yummmy!  Bring on the snow.

Lessons Learned from a Baby Shower

#1 - DO arrange with the baby to be born on the very day the shower is planned, thereby allowing you a full two weeks to do all the cleaning, decorating, and cooking that you should have had done by the original date.

Thank you, Baby K!!

#2 - DON'T fixate upon attempt baby shower decor you have never tried before.  Certainly not something you have found online that flat out lies and claims it is able to be completed in a mere 15 minutes per flower.  And, of course not an item you begin to tackle less than 24 hours before said shower.  Never wise.

#3 - DO hire help.  It is best if this help is related to you by blood and can be compensated by unlimited Rice Krispy bars with white chocolate drizzle.

#4 - DON'T forget to vacuum the rug in the eat-in area of the kitchen.

The one everyone will need to walk over to see the gifts.

The one 2 feet from where all the guests will sit.

The one where the dogs sleep  23 of the 24 hours of the day.

The dogs who have a 5-inch thick undercoat that goes through a weekly molting.

Yes, you.

Yes, that rug.

::sigh::

#5 - DO enjoy everyone who walks through the door, swoon over all the beautiful, tiny girly items, hold the baby every chance you get.  And when everyone leaves, put your feet up, bask in the clean house, and ladle yourself many large cups of coffee punch.  Many.

A Little Oomph - Rice Krispy Treats w/ White Chocolate Drizzle

Okay . . . this is SO something anybody could think of.

But it was not something that I had thought of.

And when I saw it online, I knew it had to happen for a recent shower for which I made some food.

That "something" is the addition of white chocolate drizzle to the very pedestrian and quite uninspiring Rice Krispy Treat.

Here are the Rice Krispy Treats pre-drizzle.

Yawn!!

Here is the magic ingredient:

I threw a bar into the double boiler and once it was all smooth and melty, I added just a tinge of red paste food coloring to give it just a hint of pink (baby girl shower!!)

Then I drizzled it over the bars.  It added a little color, it took them up a notch!

And as my lovely college daughter said, "You wouldn't think a little chocolate would make these so much better!!

She was right!  Do try!

(Also, Ann from On Sutton Place posted a recipe for Perfect Rice Krispy Treats that use marshmallow cream instead of marshmallows.  That could be my next step up for these simple, chewy, delights!)

The Little Recipe That Saved the Day - Italian Chicken Rice Soup

On Sunday night I was expecting dinner guests.  This particular group had the distinguishing characteristic of including a chef, a restaurateur, an artist, and various gluten-free, dairy-free, and tree nut allergic individuals.  All of these ingredients made coming up with a menu a slightly strenuous exercise.  But at last I had it down.

A melt-in-your-mouth brisket from America's Test Kitchen
Crash Hot Potatoes from The Pioneer Woman
Mixed Greens and Pear Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
Various Breads from Flat Rock Village Bakery

Unlike other dubious times of entertaining, this time I was going to be relaxed and ready.  I had a menu, I had a schedule, I had a plan.  On Sunday afternoon all was going exactly to that plan.  Wood floors mopped, check.  Onions caramelized to a golden perfection, check.  Potatoes boiled and set aside, check.

I reached to put my marinated briskets into the oven and glanced once again at the recipe, just to make sure that 2 hours was the correct baking time.

And then I slowly went cold, head to toe.

The recipe read, "Bake 3 1/2 to 4 hours or until tender."  It was 4:00 pm.  Company was to arrive at 6:00.  A dinner hour of 7:30 to 8:00 was not a possibility with 8 school-aged kids involved.

So, with 2 hours, I must now come up with a new main dish that:

* went with my other side dishes
* appealed to my august group of trained palates and artistic sensibilities
* included no dairy, wheat or nuts
* could be ready in 1 1/2 hours (throw in a quick trip to the grocery store!!), and
* would cause me zero stress, since my stress level was threatening to enter the red zone.

A 5-minute glance through my tried and true recipes yielded only one recipe that would work . . . Italian Chicken Rice Soup.

The addition of any great spaghetti sauce gives this soup the flavor of having been simmered for hours.   My personal choice is Classico.

My company had no idea that the soup hastily slapped into two large tureens and served with freshly grated Parmesan was the product of 15 minutes of preparation, instead of my overnight-marinated, onion-caramelized, slow-baked brisket.

The soup was hearty, savory and amazingly comforting on a chilly winter night.

And when the evening was over, there was only one recipe requested by several guests . . .

Italian Chicken Rice Soup

49 1/2 ounces chicken broth
26 ounces meatless spaghetti sauce (I used Classico Tomato Basil)
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (I used a tablespoon of dried)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups cooked rice
1 teaspoon sugar

In a Dutch oven, combine the broth spaghetti sauce, chicken, parsley, and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in rice and sugar. Simmer, uncovered, another 10 minutes or until heated through. Serve with a generous grating of mozzarella or Parmesan on top! Yield: 2 1/2 quarts

Into the Market Basket

My poor family . . . my poor dear family, if they only knew what was in store for them. I went grocery shopping today, and the things that found their way into my shopping cart would make their hair curl . . . I just know they would. Green pickled jalapenos, fresh ginger, grey poupon mustard, Asian chili garlic sauce, rice wine vinegar, shallots, fresh dill, oyster sauce. Oyster sauce? Who makes sauce out of oysters?

Why all the strange ingredients? 'Cause, Honey, summer's here and Mama's going on some kitchen adventures! Have I mentioned my current infatuation with America's Test Kitchen / Cook's Illustrated recipes? Yes, yes, I know I have.

Tonight, the family sleeps, blissfully unaware of what awaits. The poor Man of the House who grew up on Midwestern meat and potatoes (although he is doing delightfully well at expanding his food repertoire . . . just not so much love for Asian, Indian, or Thai), the trio of Sons who consider pizza and cereal a quite-balanced diet and eschew all things green, the patient duet of Daughters who do their best to buck up cheerfully on my food explorations . . . yep, all of them innocently unaware.

So, tomorrow night we're gonna dive headlong into Sichuan Pork Noodles. Mmmm, mmmm! Heat up that skillet! It's gonna be a hot time in the old town!

(P.S. Ice cream with caramel sauce for all who eat without complaining . . . I'm not too tough!)

A Supper for Your Weekend

I said I was going to dive into my new America's Test Kitchen recipes and come to the surface when I had a good one in hand. Well, here I am!

I tried the Spicy Molasses Glazed Steak Tips first. I would call them very, very yummy, but when you take into consideration that they take 6 common ingredients and cook up in a half an hour, you have to call them fabulous!!

So, without further delay, here is a great meal to try this weekend!

Start by cutting 1 1/2 pounds of sirloin steak tips into 2-inch cubes. (The recipe tells me these steak tips are sold as whole steaks, cubes, or strips. Hmmmmm, good to know.)

If you are a steak lover like me, you will need to pause here to let your mouth water with anticipation of what is to come.

Okay, on to the next step.

Measure your 1/3 cup of molasses,


1/4 cup of cider vinegar (oops, I couldn't find my 1/4 cup measure so had to measure our 4 tablespoons instead ::sigh::),


and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes into a medium bowl,




and whisk it right up!



Heat a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat until just smoking. (Youngest Son got a kick out of looking for that "just smoking" part!) Cook meat until it is browned all over (6-10 minutes). Transfer the meat to a platter. If you're a good cook, at this point you'll "tent" the meat with foil to keep it warm. If you're like me, you'll just do the rest of the recipe as fast as you can and pray the meat stays warm.



Add your molasses mixture to the meat juices in the skillet and simmer. At this point, things are smelling really, really good!

Then you simply spoon this slightly thickened sauce over the steak and serve!! How beautiful is that!


The thing that "makes" this recipe is the unusual combination of the molasses and cider vinegar. It gives you a delightful Asian taste, and no one can tell what is in the sauce (particularly finicky eaters who are sure they don't like molasses)!
I served these steak tips with some pasta that I swirled around in butter and sautee'd garlic, and Middle Son made a salad for everyone. I have never seen him have the patience to put together such a beautiful salad before and I probably never will again but for this one night, his salads were his moment of shining glory.



And the recipe was right. In 30 minutes I had dinner on the table . . . and a smile on my face! Mmmmmmmm!!

Spicy Molasses-Glazed Steak Tips:
1/3 cup molasses
1/4 cup cider
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak tips, cut into 2-inch chunks
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Whisk molasses, vinegar, pepper flakes, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Pat steak tips dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook meat until browned all over, 6 to 10 minutes; transfer to platter and tent with foil.
Add molasses mixture and any accumulated meat juices to empty skillet and simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over steak. Serve.