I’m taking the day off today. Actually, I took the whole weekend off. I got my essential work done on Thursday and went off to plaaaaay!
I hope this Labor Day (or Labour Day, for my Canadian family and friends) is wonderful. I needed a break, and I’m hoping this weekend has been restful (as I write this on Thursday at 6:30pm, I’m exhausted, I still have the smell of rotten potatoes in my nose, I have no idea what to make for dinner, and I’m hungry… I know, I know, woe to me)… I’ll let you know how it was when it’s not still the weekend.
If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to watch last week’s episode 37, where I made Roasted Tomato Soup. You guys, it was really good. I froze some of it and I can’t wait to eat it again. If you’re working on your menu for next week right now, here’s the menu I’ve planned.
Well, I’m off (this is Thursday me) to pack… or (Monday me) to enjoy the rest of our mini vacation.
One of my favorite ways to cook a chicken is to roast it. In the Crock Pot, or in the oven, doesn’t really matter to me. It will taste great regardless. In our household, there are just two of us… OK, three, if you count the dog. He counts, right… Two of us eating meals, one of us cleaning the plates if he’s lucky. So when I make a whole chicken, I do it with the intention of having leftovers. I love cold, leftover chicken that’s eaten while standing in front of the fridge… warmed up is OK too. 🙂
You could basically make one chicken, say for your Sunday dinner, and reap the rewards of this delicious meal for the whole week! (Um… if you really do want to use it for every dinner meal in a week, even if there are just two of you, maybe cook up two chickens, just to be safe.)
If you’re like me, you probably don’t let much go to waste when it comes to the chicken. I make stock with the giblets, and after I’ve taken the meat off the bones, I make stock from the carcass (what a weird and grody word). With this chicken stock you can make:
And then there’s the pan drippings. You know, all that delicious goodness at the bottom of the roasting pan?! Yes, that. Don’t throw it away! Refrigerate it, skim off the fat, then use it to make gravy (like this Mushroom Gravy)! Or use it like a concentrated chicken stock.
Carla, asked about my chicken stock recipe. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have it on here, at least as it’s own separate post. Thanks Carla! Here it is!!
Tomato Soup is one of my favorite comfort foods. Combined with Grilled Cheese, of course. I’m happy to buy the soup that’s in a box. It tastes good. I like it. But, you know that if I can, I like to make things myself. So, since tomatoes are in season and I have so many of them, why the heck not!?
If you’re wondering why I’m making soup when it’s 100 degrees out, it’s because I might possibly be insane. Or, because I can’t wait for fall to actually arrive. Or, because I just like soup. You choose. In any case, I’m making soup. You can watch me make it, and tuck this recipe away for a rainy day (ahh, wouldn’t a rainy day be just perfect with this meal?? Reminds me of when I was at camp when I was little, one of the two times I went… I didn’t love camp… and it was raining and we had grilled cheese and tomato soup…), or brave the heat and make it too. Or, maybe you live somewhere where the end of August really does bring cooler weather. In any case, I hope you make it and I really hope you enjoy it.
I’ve roasted carrots, tomatoes (duh), onion, and garlic. You could add other favorite veggies too! Summer squash, bell peppers, beets…
I blended it up with the Hand Blender that KitchenAid gave me (Woo hoo! Yay! Thanks!!). I’m crazy about this gadget, guys! It’s awesome, and it even comes in a case, so all the pieces can be stored together… more about it in another post, coming up soon. If you prefer to use a traditional blender, be my guest. But, please remove the middle plug part on the lid and cover it with a clean towel. This will allow steam to escape and the lid to not get all rubbery and fall into the blender, and hot soup to not fly all over you and your kitchen. No, I’m not joking. This happened to me. Now I know, and now I have a Hand Blender (that experience was precisely the reason why I got one).
This soup is delicious, friends! After I filmed and photographed, I wasn’t planning to eat more than a bite or two. Then before I knew it, the sandwich had been mostly devoured and there was just a drop of soup left. This happens often on filming days. Sometimes it’s because I’m so darn hungry. Most of the time, it’s because it’s so good that I just stand there at my little island and have “just one more bite”. I ate it twice yesterday, once already today, and I’m considering another bowl for second lunch. Husband liked it so much that he asked for another grilled cheese to go with his next helping. Always makes me feel great when he wants seconds.
Oh, and this is a fun way to sneak veggies in for those with picky eaters… they’ll never know it’s healthy because it tastes so good! Or maybe they will and they just won’t care.
Last modified on 2013-10-15 17:20:56 GMT. 2 comments. Top.
Roasted Tomato Soup
Recipe Type: Soup, Main
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Total time: 1 hour 15 mins
Serves: 4-6
Comforting, homemade tomato soup. Perfect for a chilly fall day.
Ingredients
10 tomatoes, each one cut in 6 or 8 pieces
2 carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, tip chopped off
4 C veggie stock
1 1/2 C water (or stock)
1-2 t salt
3/4-1 t pepper
1 t sweet paprika
1 t fresh thyme
1/2 t dried oregano (or 1 t fresh)
1/3 C garlic chives
1/2 C basil
3 T balsamic vinegar
2-3 T olive oil
1 T heavy whipping cream (or half and half, or milk… whatever you use in your morning coffee) per bowl
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350F. Place tomatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place onions and carrots on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast veggies for about 30 minutes (carrots might not be tender, that’s OK, we’re par-baking them, as they will cook more later).
Add stock, thyme, oregano, garlic chives, paprika, salt, and pepper to soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook until veggies are done roasting.
Add roasted veggies to the soup pot. Bring to a boil and cook 15-30 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
Add basil and balsamic vinegar and cook 5 minutes more.
Using a hand blender (or a regular blender – if you do this method, please remove the plug in the lid and cover it with a towel instead, this allows steam to escape, and results in a non-disastrous soup making experience… trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way), submerge into soup, then begin to blend. Be careful, it may splash, and it’s very hot (I know you know this). Blend until smooth.
Taste and adjust seasoning. Add a drizzle of good olive oil.
Serve it topped with a drizzle of cream, alongside a grilled cheese sandwich.
Notes
This soup will freeze and reheat well. To store, cool on counter for a while, then place in the refrigerator. Once it’s completely cooled, freeze in an airtight container. It can be reheated to use in pasta sauces, to add to Minestrone Soup, you could add pasta to it, other veggies, or just reheat it and have it with another grilled cheeeeeeese! You could also eat it chilled, as a Gazpacho.
Last modified on 2012-08-29 20:51:27 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Grilled Cheese
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Recipe Type: Sandwich, Main or Side
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 8 mins
Total time: 13 mins
Serves: 1
A perfect compliment to tomato soup.
Ingredients
2 pieces of bread (frozen, opt.)
1 T olive oil (or unsalted butter)
salt
4-5 slices Gruyère cheese (or your favorite kind of cheese)
1 clove garlic (opt.) (or garlic salt, if you don’t want to use frozen bread)
Instructions
If you’re using garlic: Rub the garlic onto one side of each slice of the frozen bread. It should use almost a whole clove. (Or for non-frozen: sprinkle with garlic powder.)
Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and spread the oil out evenly across the bread. Repeat on second slice of bread.
Top un-oiled side of one slice of bread with cheese. Close the sandwich and place in a pre-heated pan (over medium or medium-low heat). Cook until bread is slightly browned, flip, cook until cheese is melted and bread is browned, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
We went away this past weekend. We drove 5 hours to go to the mountains to hang out with Husband’s family. It was wonderful. So refreshing to be away. They’ve been painting the exterior of our apartment complex for about a month and a half now. We also live beside a freeway. It’s noisy. It was nice to be surrounded by trees, stars, family, and silence. The silence was often broken by laughter.
I don’t know if I have anything food related to talk about, oh except to tell you that we had amazing german sausage and homemade ice cream.
The weekend was part of a fundraiser. We got a few treasures at the silent auction. Be still my heart. I love this watering can. Husband had to shove his way in to get the bid in at the last second. I’d been bidding the whole time, but was at a different table standing by another item that I’d hoped to win. I got outbid on a few things (and got my hand shoved out of the way at one point by someone who desperately wanted the ice cream maker I was bidding on – yes, I’m still a little bit mad, but I’ve decided that I’ll wait until I’ve saved up for my Kitchenaid mixer and just get the ice cream maker attachment, so I’m OK, really…), but won some others. It felt like Christmas, looking at all the treats! And, it was a donation, so even better! Husband really really wanted some BBQ Sauce made by the Balakian family. He bid on all 4 or 5 of them. We won one set. I might use it in the next few weeks on my show, with chicken, in the crock pot. I can’t wait!
Our dog has to sit on a pink plastic table cloth, on his bed, when we’re in the car. He sheds a lot. We live in an apartment, and our car is parked far from us, so we can’t vacuum the car each time we travel with him. When going to and from the mountains he slides around a lot. Yesterday he ended up underneath his bed. We laugh at him a lot.
A couple of other things that are random and unrelated to the weekend:
It’s supposed to be 100 tomorrow and i’ve decided to make soup on my show. Oh. I thought fall was almost here. Apparently it’s not. Hope it’s cool enough for soup where you are. I don’t really care, I’m going to eat it anyways!
This coming Sun will make one year that I’ve been blogging (ok, officially blogging). More about that in next Monday’s post.
I had spaghetti squash for the first time made by my mom-in-law. It was a tasty, simple, healthy meal. While my version may vary slightly, it still features a delicious roasted squash.
Roasting veggies, almost any type, is possibly my favorite way to eat them. They get kinda nutty, and are crunchy outside and tender inside. The best!!
This week’s feast features roasted spaghetti squash with a veggie rich filling. However, I realize that those who get the small Abundant Harvest Organics box didn’t get a spaghetti squash this week. Here are some other ways that you could prepare this meal: Use pasta, use another type of squash, hollowed out and roasted (for example a large zucchini); in bell peppers (as stuffed peppers), in tomatoes (as stuffed tomatoes), on top of baked potatoes, as pizza topping, to top crostini, as taco, burrito, or enchilada filling, to top taco salad, mixed with rice…
For a vegetarian version, crumble and cook some tempeh instead of the ground beef!
If you want to make this ahead of time, here’s what you can do (what I did, since I film in the afternoons and we eat what I make for dinner, usually): Make the recipe up to the topping with basil, olive oil, and cheese stage. Then scrape out the squash from the skin, along with the filling. Pour it all in a bowl and refrigerate it. Later on, with a bit of oil in a pan, reheat the filling. You could re-heat the squash skins too, but it’s not really necessary, as now they are simply the bowl. Once the filling is hot, refill the squash, top with parmesan cheese, basil, and a drizzle of good quality olive oil.
I had a hard time stopping the eating process, even though I knew that I needed to save the meal for dinner. I don’t think it was just because I hadn’t had lunch. It was just good. Lots of fresh veggies, organic ground beef, and roasted squash… it’s a recipe for deliciousness. We had it for dinner (I reheated the filling) along with some Garlic Flats. It was delicious!!!
Last modified on 2013-08-22 23:24:00 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Spaghetti Squash Rock
Recipe Type: Main
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 65 mins
Total time: 1 hour 20 mins
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
1 spaghetti squash, halved, seeds removed
1/2 lb. ground meat (I used beef), or tempeh
olive oil
2 tomatoes, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small summer squash, diced
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 t dried oregano
1/4 t dried thyme
2 T red wine vinegar
1/4 C parmesan cheese, for topping
1/4 C basil, for topping
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Drizzle squash with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake on a rack set in the middle or upper position of the oven, for 55-65 minutes, or until flesh of squash is tender (jab it with a fork to find out if it is).
Heat pan, add ground meat. Drain fat and return meat to pan. Add veggies, herbs, salt and pepper. (Add some olive oil if the pan gets dry.) Cook until reduced and saucy, about 13 minutes.
Add red wine vinegar, cook 2 min more.
Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Remove squash from the oven. Scrape with a fork to get the spaghetti-ness from the side. Fill with meat and veggie mixture.
Top with parmesan cheese, basil, and a drizzle of good quality olive oil (like Bari’s).
Serve with garlic twists or garlic flats.
Notes
To serve more than two as a main dish, add another spaghetti squash. There should be enough filling for 4 people.
Last modified on 2012-08-22 21:45:07 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Garlic Twists
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Recipe Type: Side, Bread, Appetizer
Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
1 pizza dough
1-2 T of your favorite herbs
1 t or so of garlic powder
1/4 C parmesan cheese
salt
olive oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F.
Flatten pizza dough slightly to make a round disc. Brush with a tiny bit of olive oil and sprinkle with herbs, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and a bit of salt. Fold over and press down. Repeat times.
Roll out pizza dough to about 1/4″ thick. Brush with olive oil and a sprinkle of all toppings.
Using a knife or a pizza wheel, slice in strips, 1″ wide.
Transfer to a baking sheet.
Carefully lift one end of the dough and twist slightly (it can also be done holding both ends, with the dough in the air, but it tends to stretch a bit), twist second end.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until twists are slightly crispy.
