Chicken Soup Question

Friday i made chicken soup for the first time using broth. In the past i've always been a purist and boiled chicken parts for hours on end to get the real flavor. This time i decided to cheat. Only ingredients i used were carrots, 3 stalks of celery,black pepper, broth cans, 1/4 of an onion and 2 bnls chicken breasts (originally frozen). Everything came out fine after simmering for about 1 1/2 hours which gave the soup plenty of time to let the flavors blend.

The only issue i had was that the chicken seemed dry. I baked the chicken breasts for 15 minutes and then chunked them up into the soup so they could finish cooking. Not sure if it's especially a good idea to toss in raw chicken when people keep on sampling the pot for flavor every couple minutes! ;)

My question is, why was the chicken dry? Is it because i baked it for a few minutes before tossing in the pot? Ot would it be because i used cheap frozen chicken in the first place?

In the past i traditionally use bone in chicken which of course adds to the flavor and is obviously more moist. I've never used bnls chicken before. I've baked my fresh bone in chicken and then tossed it into the pot with no negative side effects.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?

Also looking for additional ingredients i could use to really spruce this up.....

BBQ!

http://milwaukee.citysearch.com/profile/41002945/milwaukee_wi/ashley_s_barbeque.html

Went to Ashley's on 15th and Center today for lunch with a friend of mine. His dad knows the owner and has raved about it for years. What can i say? Killer! My friend had rib tips and i had honey bbq wings. the rib tips were literally falling off the bone and yet had that charcoal flavor from proper cooking. The 12 piece wings i got were good but i should have gotten the 6 piece. Very filling of course but the flavor was interesting. It almost tasted like they had sweet n sour sauce mixed in with the bbq sauce. Don't get me wrong. They were damn good but after eating that many i noticed something was "odd". The regular bbq sauce is a custom recipe of course. I know they start off with Open Pit and then add stuff to it to make it killer. Excellent. Wish i had gotten ribs but i was craving wings at the time. No regrets really. Just itching to go back there and try something different!

Yeah the neighborhood ain't too great. Tell me something i don't know. The owner (Darnell) was super cool and talked to us for a few minutes after we ordered. Very nice guy and clearly a good salesman. His daughter was cute as a button and wound up getting hugs from both of us. Highlight of the trip was her looking at me and walking away when i was going to give her a hug! Even at the youngest of ages, the ladies seem to avoid me!!!

Grand total we both spent appx $8 a piece which was right on our mark considering we were starving and wound up stuffed! :) Very extensive menu for fried foods. Clearly not trying to be anything special aside from a take out restaurant that just serves up damn good food.

I look forward to going back there in the future. Every dollar i spend there is one less that goes to crummy money pits like pizza shuttle etc. It feels good spending a buck or two more than you normally would for a place where the owner and staff are friendly and are just trying to make an honest living.

If you get the chance to order food from Ashley's, i guarantee that you won't be disappointed with the taste. In this fast food world we live in today, you can find cheaper and faster food i would be shocked if you could find bbq that tastes better....

Potato Pancakes

Yeah I don't have pictures because my camera is broken and I don't have the funds to purchase a new one yet.

So last night I made potato pancakes.

Ingredients:
3 small potatoes (I used yukon gold) - shredded
1/2 small onion - chopped finely
1 egg
1/4 cup pancake mix
1 tablespoon of sour cream (I used low-fat I don't recommend consistency not that great)
parsley (I used a couple shakes of the dried stuff)
salt
pepper
oil

Peel and shred you potatoes set aside (I have a small handheld grated that I now loathe). Drain the water from the potatoes and press in a cheese cloth to remove as much water as you can.
Chop onion. As fine as you can. Put onions in a bowl with the potatoes.
In a frying pan add a liberal amount of oil heat on meduim.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir like crazy. Combining the eggs well.

Salt and pepper to taste of course. Remember to salt your mixture now because its hard to properly season potatoes after the fact.

Once your oil is very hot. I used 1/4 cup measuring thing to ration out the mixture into the oil and flattening with a spatula. Turn once when the side is brown. When other side is brown. Drain on napkin.

Food Photography Tips

I came across this article and thought we could all learn something from it and use it towards our future posts.

http://www.slashfood.com/2007/09/26/food-photography-tips-from-a-pro/

Chili Mac

So last Friday while at Whole Foods I decided that I wanted chili mac. You know the hamburger helper stuff. But I wanted to just try and make it. I think that should give me points. Since it was so long ago since I made it I will just kind of guesstimate on amounts and stuff. This was a measure free meal.

75% lean ground beef
generous shake of macaroni noodles
sea salt
pepper
Mrs. Dash Spicy
palmful of cilantro chopped
one can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes
one can (6 oz) tomato paste
one cup of chicken broth
one clove of garlic, minced
half a small red onion, chopped fine
couple drizzles of olive oil
one can of black bean drained and rinsed
a couple shakes of dried oregano
a couple shakes of dried parsley
a couple of shakes of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
salsa verde
colby jack cheese
sour cream

Here is what I did:

Put a salted pot of water on to boil. After the water began a rapid boil add noodles and cook about al dente. Don't overcook, you don't want mushy noodles. Drain and return to pot. Set aside.

Browned the ground beef on medium heat seasoned with the a half a capful of spicy Mrs. Dash. after browned all the way through lower heat and drain ground beef. Return ground beef to pan. Push meat aside add a little olive oil and add onion and garlic to pan. Soften onions and mix together with ground beef. Add diced tomatoes and salt. If tomatoes are to chunky for you (mine were) chopped with wooden spoon. Taking a kitchen scissors to the tomatoes in the can works well too. Mix well. Add chili powder, oregano, and parsley, stir well. Add tomato paste entire can and add chicken broth until its an consistency you like. Taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Add cilantro, stir well. Add cumin. Cover for 10 minutes. Stir in cheese.




I served mine with salsa verde and sour cream.

Veggie Chili

So Last night I made Veggie Chili. Picture will be posted later.

Here is how I made it:

1 -Medium sweet onion diced
5-Garlic Cloves diced
1-Green Pepper diced
2-Carrots diced
1-Butternut Squash diced
1-cup frozen corn
1-Can Black Beans, rinced and drained
1-Can of Light red kidney beans, rinced and drained
1-Container of Frozen Homemade Tomatoe Puree, Thawed- made with Paczesny's tomatoes :-)
(or you can buy a can of tomato puree)
1-large can of Tomato sauce
1-small can of tomato paste
1-1 1/2 cups of Water (adjust to how thick you like your soup)
3 TB Chili Powder
1 tsp Smoked Spanish Paprika
1 TB Red Pepper Seasoning
2 TB Hot Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

I sauteed the onions, garlic, and green pepper in a LARGE soup pan with a drizzle of Olive Oil. Then I added in the Carots, and squash and sauteed together for about 5 minutes. Then I added in the remaining ingrediants and brought to a boil and covered and reduced to low and simmered for 1.5 hours.

I think I added in a little more than 1 tsp of the smoked paprika, so that flavor kind of took over my chili a little bit, but in the end it turned out super yummy. Be CAREFUL when cooking with Smoked Spanish Paprika....it's a very over powering spice.....or maybe it was just really strong since I bought it from the Spice House at the Public Market....which by the way is my new favorite place to buy all my spices :-) It's VERY reasonably priced, so check it out!

Chicken Pot Pie

I forgot to take a picture......but I decided to make a post anyways.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:
3 cups of Chicken Stock
2 Yukon Gold Potatoes peeled and diced
1 Sweet Potatoe peeled and diced
1 cup of Frozen Peas
1 cup of Frozen Veggie mix: Carrots, Corn, and Peas
2 large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts diced
1/2 Cup Flour
1 1/2 cup Skim Milk
1 tsp Fresh Thyme
1 TB fresh Parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
1-frozen roll of Phyllo Dough, a few full sheets

I first boiled the ckicken stock in a large saucepan. I added in the next 4 ingredients and brought to a boil and covered and simmered for about 7 minutes. Then I added in the diced chicken and cooked for another 5 minutes until the chicken was cooked through. Then I took a strainer spoon and removed the chicken and veggies from the stock and placed it aside in a bowl. I turned up the heat on the stock to simmer, while whisking the flour into the milk until all flour was dissolved. Then I poured the milk mixture into the stock and cooked for another 5 minutes while stirring rapidly. Then I added in the chicken and veggie mixture into the stock mixture along with the thyme, parlsey, salt and pepper.

From here I poured the mixture into a greased 11x14 casserole dish and topped it with the phyllo dough. I sprayed the top of the dough with cooking spray. Kept it at 400 for about 16 minutes til the dough was crispy.

That's it!!! Turned out Fabulous!!

Best part is that Michael ate ALL the veggies that I put in this dish.....with no complaints!
:-)