Shrimp Chowder

Shrimp Chowder, the title says it all.  These soup requires a little bit of prep work and can take some time but the result is well worth it.  This recipe comes from a class I took through Adult Ed here in Missoula titled Soups and Stews.  Originally the chef had wanted to make clam chowder but couldn't find some good clams so he went with shrimp and I am so glad he did.  As he said at the time, this is a treat that you make, not an everyday meal.  So don't be shocked at the fat in this recipe.  Also, don't be afraid to make your own shrimp stock, it's not as hard as you think.

Here is the ingredient list:

2-3 organic carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium yellow onions, peeled and diced
2 stalks of organic celery, diced
1 cup of par boiled potatoes, diced.
1 pound of shrimp, shelled and deveined and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 pint of milk
1 pint of half and half
4 cups of shrimp stock
3/4 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste

A couple of things, you do want to use the butter and olive oil together.  The oil stops the butter from browning but you still get the taste and flavor of the butter.  Par boiling potatoes means to cook them separately in boiling water until done or just about done.  You don't want to boil the potatoes in this milk to get them done because it can take 15 to 20 minutes for them to become tender and by then the milk has scorched or become separated.

Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pot over medium to medium high heat.  Once the butter has melted, throw in the thyme, carrots, celery and onion and cook until tender and translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the flour and stir well and cook until bubbly about 5 minutes.  Do not rush this, you are trying to get the flour to cook a little so your soup won't have a floury taste.  Slowly add the stock, about a cup at a time and stir well to avoid lumps.  Next add the milk and half and half and bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the mixture is thick.  If it is too thick, you can thin with more stock or milk.  Add the potatoes and shrimp and cook until the shrimp is pink or white and firm, about 5 minutes.  Add the salt and pepper and be sure to taste the soup.  Sometimes, if I think it needs more of a flavor kick, I add a teaspoon or two of Better than Bouillon Clam Base.

I served this with some sliced baguettes that were buttered and warmed in a 350 degree oven until the edges were brown and crispy and the center soft.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions!

Shrimp Stock

I have a weakness, it's called cookbooks.  It's so bad that I purposely avoid cooking sections in bookstores because I inevitably want a new one and they are not cheap.  However, I have invested in many and one of the areas I always look at is the soup section and if they have stock recipes.  There is something comforting about soups and the backbone to most soups are stocks.  When a recipe started calling for a homemade stock, I would always panic!  I can't possibly make stocks, they seem so difficult and complicated to make.  Boy was I wrong!  You can make this soup staple yourself.  The first one I'm going to share is a quick one, Shimp Stock.


The following is a Fish Stock recipe that I have converted to Shrimp Stock.  I took a class, years ago, titled Soups and Stews and the chef shared many of his recipes.  I wish I could remember his name to give him proper credit, but for the life of me I cannot.  Anyhow, when I buy shrimp, I usually try and get it with the shells on.  I take the shells from peeling the shrimp and throw them in a ziploc bag and put them in the freezer for use later.  When I have done about 3 or 4 pounds of shrimp, I have enough shells to make a huge batch of stock.  Okay, so here is the ingredient list:


Shrimp shells and tails (legs too if they are attached)
2 stalks of organic celery, cut into thirds
2 organic carrots washed but unpeeled, cut into thirds
1 yellow onion, unpeeled, cut into quarters
Bay Leaf
1 tsp of dried thyme
1 tsp of caraway seeds
1 tablespoon of kosher salt
5 to 6 whole black peppercorns
At least 10 cups of water


The secret to this stock is the caraway seeds.  By adding them to mixture, it takes the pungent fishy smell out of the stock and the house.  Now put all of these ingredients into a big stock pot.  Put enough water in to at least cover all the ingredients.  Bring the pot to a boil over medium high heat and then reduce to a simmer over low to medium low heat.  You don't want a hard boil with any stocks, it will discolor the stock and can turn it into a gelatin when it cools.  It generally takes about 30 to 45 minutes.  You'll know it's done because the shells will be pink, the stock will be a yellow color and it will smell amazing.  Drain the solids from the liquid and discard the solids.  Cool the liquid or use immediately if desired.

Stocks do really well in the freezer.  After cooling, measure the stock into containers.  I like to put a piece of masking tape on the container and mark on the tape the contents, date and quantity (ex:  Shrimp Stock, 2/10, 2 cups).  Be sure to vary the size of your containers so you can defrost the size you need for your recipes.  Besides soup, stocks are great to make pasta sauces, or you can cook noodles or rice in the stock.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Decadence

We had just finished an fun evening with friends, enjoying some adult beverages at the Kettle House and then great food at the Mandolin in the Union Club, when we came home and I had a hankering for something sweet.  I had planned to make this desert for Valentine's Day but we went to DQ instead.  So knowing that I had all the ingredients in hand, I began creating Chocolate Decadence which is a Cooking Light recipe from their December, 2003 issue.  I have made this desert before and it is a relatively simple dish with some great chocolate flavor.  The recipe says that it is best served warm and they are correct.   It is like a warm chocolate cake with a molten chocolate lava inside.

Here is the ingredient list:

1/2 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup 2% low-fat milk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa plus 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
8 teaspoons semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  I find when I cook a desert where there are a lot of steps and ingredients, I like to prep all the ingredients.  This means chopping the chocolate ahead of time, separate the egg and measure the other ingredients.  By doing all this prep, making this desert will be easier and much less stressful.  

Now get out 4 ramekins or oven proof custard dishes and spray the bottom and sides with a cooking spray.  I do NOT use Pam, there are too many chemicals that I don't recognize in the ingredient list.  Instead I use a canola oil spray where the ingredients are pretty much canola oil.  I then take the 3 tablespoons of sugar and dump into one custard dish and then turn it over until the all the sides are covered in sugar.  Any excess sugar I then dump into the next dish.  I generally find that I need more than the 3 tablespoons sugar that is suggested.  Finally I take the dishes and put them into a rimmed jelly roll pan so it will be easier to put into and out of the oven.

For the batter, get a small saucepan and combine the 1/2 cup of sugar, the milk and the cocoa and stir together with a whisk.  Over medium heat, stir the ingredients until they come to a boil, stir another 30 seconds or until the sugar has dissolved.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and chopped chocolate to the mixture.  Stir until the butter and chocolate have melted.  Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.  This is important, the next ingredient you will add will be some egg whites and if the mixture is too hot, you will basically be making scramble eggs.

After the mixture has cooled, add the flour, vanilla, salt and egg whites.  Stir until just combined.  Put 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each of the prepared dishes.  Add about 2 teaspoons of chocolate chips onto the top of the batter.  Top each dish with about a tablespoon of batter.  Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.  The desert will be barely set.  Let cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto a desert dish and serve.  I like to top with a little chocolate syrup and whip cream.  Powdered sugar is a nice option as well and of course a little ice cream would be heavenly!  Enjoy!






 

Black Bean Soup

So this blog is to give you a little insight on how my mind works when it comes to food.  God help you all!  I have read a lot of articles in Cooking Light and Runners World where beans are a necessary part of a healthy diet.  A few blogs ago I did a Ham and Bean Soup which turned out great with some amazing flavor.  For a different twist on another bean soup I wanted to try a southwestern twist.  The Good Food Store has such a great selection of dried beans and lentils and we have found a great turtle black bean to use.  I had some of those beans in our pantry so I just needed to think what else would go well with that.  Onions and celery are staples for most soups so of course I would need them.  To give it that southwestern twist I wanted to add some jalapeno and garlic.  We had just purchases some frozen organic white corn at Costco so I thought that would add some nice flavor.  Now what else could I add to give it some extra flavor, pork would be good but I really didn't want to invest any time in cooking up a roast or cut up a loin chop.  My answer, of course, is BACON! 

Okay, so I think I have the basic ingredients together.  Now what else can I add to make this amazing, I know I'll cook this in some chicken broth.  I wish I had some homemade chicken stock to throw in this but I haven't made any in awhile and therefore the freezer is empty of stock.  A future blog will be in order for stock making.  In addition to that stock I know I have some organic better than bouillon in the fridge for back up.  Finally, when it comes to putting all together at the end I wanted to add some fresh flavors to really give that soup the final touch.  Sour cream always goes well with bean soup (think chili) and then I have an avocado ripening on the counter and that would not only taste great with this soup but look good too.  So with all of that in mind, here is the ingredient list.

• 12 oz of dried black beans
• Half of an onion
• Couple of stalks of celery
• Jalapeno
• Garlic Clove
• 4 or 5 slices of bacon
• Quart of Organic Chicken Broth or Stock
• Cumin
• Mexican Oregano
• Salt and Pepper
• Water
• Organic Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
• 1/2 to 1 cup of organic frozen corn
• Sour Cream
• Avocado

I started out the night before by rinsing the beans and letting them soak overnight.  If possible, change the water at least once during the soaking period.  Next chop slice the bacon into 1 inch pieces.  Place into a frying pan at medium heat.  Chop up the onion and celery and throw into the pan with the onions.  Next cut up the jalapeno.  The best way I find to do this is to cut off the top of the pepper and then slice it in half lengthwise.  Seed the jalapeno.  If you want a pit more heat leave the seeds in.  Next, thinly slice the jalapeno and then chop into very small pieces.  Add to the frying pan.  If you have never used fresh jalapenos before, take care to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and don't touch your lips or eyes until you have.  The seeds and inner membrane are where the heat in a jalapeno is stored.  I actually keep some disposable latex gloves on hand to throw on if I am cutting a lot them up.  Now let all of the vegetables cook in the bacon fat.  It will give everything such great flavor.  Once the vegetables are tender, either set it aside or place into the crock pot for use in the morning.  Take some of the chicken stock or broth and put a little in the pan that you just used for sauteing the vegetables.  Swish the stock around to loosen the flavorful bits of food stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Dump this liquid into the crock pot and pour the rest of the stock or broth into the crock pot as well.  Store all of this in the refrigerator until morning.

The next morning drain the black beans and put into the crock pot with the bacon, vegetables and chicken stock.  Now add roughly a quart of water with some salt and pepper, about a teaspoon of mexican oregano and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin.  Also put in about a tablespoon of the organic better than bouillon mixture.  Turn the crock pot on low and cook for about 8 hours.  

So now comes the time to confess that this recipe didn't turn out as well as I hoped.  When I got home the soup ended up being more watery than I wanted.  I originally put in a lot of water because sometimes the crock pot lets a lot of water evaporate plus beans can soak up a lot of water when cooking.  However, this didn't happen with this soup.  Now I had to try and find a way to get rid of some of the liquid or thicken up the soup.  My first thought was to puree some of the beans and see if that helped thicken the soup.  I placed about 3 ladles of the beans with some of the liquid in the blender.  I left the middle part of the lid off and placed a clean towel over the top.  This is very important when blending a hot liquid, if you leave the lid on too tight then it will explode and make a very big mess.  Trust me, I have had a huge mess to clean up after making that mistake.  Okay, back to the soup, after pouring the puree back into the soup, it was still too watery for my liking.  I transferred the soup, puree and all, into a large saucepan.  Next I brought the mixture to a boil and continue to boil for about 20 minutes until enough liquid had evaporated to make a nice thick soup.  Be sure to stir the soup occasionally during this process so that the beans don't stick to the bottom of the pan.  I must say, I was impressed this worked.  At this point I added the frozen corn to the soup and cooked over low heat for about another 5 minutes stirring occasionally. 

To serve the soup, I ladled some of the soup into a bowl.  I topped it with about a tablespoon of sour cream and a few slices of avocado on top of it.  Some chopped cilantro and or a few squeezes of lime would also go great with this. I completed this meal with some homemade corn bread and sliced red pears.  It balanced the soup out nicely.  The flavor was just fantastic, not too spicy, not too salty, just a nice balance of flavor.

This soup turned out really great and I hope you take some time to make it or something similar.  Let me know if you have any questions and thanks again for reading. 

Lemon Tilapia

So keeping with the discussion of an easy weeknight meal and one that is healthy for you too, I will share this Lemon Tilapia recipe that I came up with after watching a cooking show.  You will find that the lemon in this recipe does a pretty good job of masking that fishy smell that can permeate the house after dinner.  The flavor is very light and lemony and doesn't have a fishy taste at all.  My wife loves to have her homemade cocktail sauce with fish but she enjoys the taste of this so much she leaves the sauce for another time.

My inspiration for this dish came from watching 5 Ingredient Fix on Food Network for the first time. It was a very nicely done show where the hostess chooses meals that have basically 5 ingredients.  She showed a Tuna Salad recipe that looks amazing using Tuna Steaks, Grapes, Walnuts, Lemons and Greek Yogurt.  The Tuna Steaks were cooked with the lemon in parchment paper and came out nice and moist and then they were flaked into the mixture of the other ingredients.  I really want to try that recipe some time and I'll let you know how it turns out.

For this recipe you will want the following: 

• 2 Tilpia fillets or other meaty fish steak or fillets
• 1 or 2 organic lemons depending on the size of the fish
• Salt and Pepper
• Parchment Paper

Now a note on the ingredients, I used frozen tilapia from Costco that I thawed in the fridge all day.  The Good Food Store also has some great tilapia fillets and you can often find them on sale.  You can use any other meaty fish like cod, halibut or tuna.  Next, usually when purchasing citrus you do not need to get organic varieties unless you plan to use the rind.  In this recipe we will be zesting the lemon so you don't want a rind that has had pesticides sprayed on it.  Finally, you will want some parchment paper.  You can find this in most grocery stores where the foil and plastic wrap is sold.  I use a unbleached parchment paper that is made out of recycled paper at the Good Food Store.  If you haven't used parchment paper before it is very handy to have around.  A friend of mine loves to use it when baking cookies.  It can also make clean up a little easier.

First preheat the oven at 375 degrees. Zest or grate some of the lemon rind onto a small dish or cutting board and set aside.  Be sure not to zest any of the pith, also know as the white part of the rind, it can be very bitter.  Next slice up the lemon into 1/4 inch slices.  Take the fish fillets and dry with a paper towel.  

Take a large piece of parchment paper and lay onto a cookie sheet or rimmed pan.  Lay the lemon slices down in such a way that you can lay your fillets on top of them.  Next salt and pepper both sides of the fillet and then place on top of the lemon slices.  Finally sprinkle some of the lemon zest on top of each of the fillets.

Bring both ends of the parchment paper lengthwise together and fold a few times until it just about reaches the fish.  Take the short ends of the parchment paper and roll or fold them a few times and tuck under the fish if needed.  Basically, you have just created a packet for the fish to steam in.  Place the baking pan with the fish in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.  The fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork.

I love to serve this with a rice pilaf mixture with wild rice and some green beans.  A salad would also taste great with this.  As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments. 

Turkey Kielbasa Stir Fry

After a long day of work, I am often too drained to be creative when it comes to dinner.  That's why I like to stock the fridge and pantry with some easy things that I can throw together in a flash.  Tonight was one of those nights, luckily we had some Turkey Kielbasa in the refrigerator.  Whenever kielbasa or smoked sausage is on sale I buy a few packages and throw them in the freezer.  Growing up, our Mom would always make Cabbage Soup with either kielbasa or smoked sausage.  It made the house smell so amazing and you would come home to a comforting meal.  Now that they have turkey versions of both of these I definitely stock up with out feeling guilty about the fat.  The taste is very similar to the real thing and I am not just giving you a line.  Try it sometime, you'll be surprised.

However, I digress.  So besides the kielbasa, I pull out a Yukon potato, part of a yellow onion, some mushrooms and sweet peppers.  Be sure that you get your potatoes organic.  It is one of those root vegetables that absorbs everything in the ground and that includes pesticides.  In fact, I have read that farmers will use carrots and potatoes to help clean up fields from pesticide use.  The onion, on the other hand, does not have to be organic as pests don't really care for their taste.  I will have rant on a future post about organics and also will suggest a great book that takes the mystery out of them.  I am off on another tangent so let's get back to the food.  Now you don't have to use all of these vegetables, pick and choose what sounds good to you.  I think carrots, parsnips, garlic or green beans would go great in this dish.  You probably should have the potatoes and kielbasa though.

Scrub that organic potatoes good because you want to leave the skin on for this recipe.  It will give the dish some additional nutrients and flavor that peeled potatoes don't have.  Chop up the potato in bite size pieces, probably one inch cubes will do.  Take a non stick skillet and heat a little canola oil over medium to medium high heat.  You can use olive oil if you would like but be careful of the heat as olive oil will smoke or burn at the higher temperatures where canola does not.  Place the potatoes in the pan and add some salt and pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes and the heat.  While those are cooking, cut up the rest of the vegetables into bite size pieces.  You don't want to dice anything too finely because it will cook too quickly and burn.  The exception to that would be garlic, which you can finely chop if you like.  Just be sure to add the garlic when there are other ingredients in the pan so it won't scorch  and turn bitter.

As the potatoes begin to turn golden, check them with a fork.  Potatoes can look very nice but can still be rather raw in the middle so definitely use the fork test to check if they are done.  If there is still a little resistance to the fork, then you are ready to add the meat.  Turkey kielbasa is already cooked and you are basically just warming it up here.  I like to try and get a little color to it as it will release some more of the flavors into the potatoes.   Cook for about another two to four minutes until you start seeing some delicious color on the kielbasa.

Next, add the onions and vegetables.  You can vary the time of entry depending on the density of the vegetables and how you like them done.  If you like really crispy onions then put them in when you start the potatoes.  If you want your peppers or carrots to be a bit crunchy, add them near the end.  This is the order that I put the food in the pan for this dish; potatoes, kielbasa, onions, mushrooms and sweet peppers.  If you decided to put in celery, carrots or parsnips you would want to add them before the mushrooms.  Green beans and other softer vegetables you would want to add at the same time as the mushrooms or peppers.


Cook everything together until desired tenderness, probably only a few minutes, five minutes max.  Taste to see if you need more salt or pepper, then serve right away.  I had this with some cantaloupe and cottage cheese.  A salad would be nice as well but if you are tired, go with something easy.  

So think ahead when you are doing your grocery shopping and grab some staples to throw in the fridge or freezer for those nights when you are too tired to get creative or want to do a complicated meal.  I will try and post what I consider as some necessary items for you refrigerator, freezer and pantry in a future post.  


Thanks to all of you for reading and sending your comments.  I am really enjoying creating this and hopefully you are having some fun reading it.

Ham and Bean Soup

I am a big fan of trying to use leftovers whenever possible.  Perhaps that's why from a culinary sense I look at the 30's and 40's romantically.  While I know it was a challenge to get food during these times, how creative the cooks of this era had to be to stretch that food budget and still make healthy and great tasting food.  So with that inspiration here is a great soup to make in the crock pot with either a left over ham bone or a ham hock.  With a little preparation the night before, this can be an easy weeknight meal as well.  The aromas that fill the house are amazing when you come in from a long day of work.  The following is the very simple ingredient list:

12oz to 16oz of dried great northern or some other white beans
Water
Ham Bone or Ham Hock with meat still on bones
2 or 3 celery stalks chopped

One medium onion chopped
1 to 2 cloves of garlic crushed and then minced
One Bay Leaf
Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
More Water

The night before rinse your beans removing any discolored ones.  Place beans in a large bowl and fill with water.  Let them soak over night.  A trick when using the dried beans, try and drain and replace the water at least once during this process.  This allows extra gasses to escape the beans and your housemates will probably thank you later.  Now you can use canned beans for this recipe but I like the taste of the dried beans.  As the dried beans cook with the ham they absorb all the wonderful flavors from the meat.  If you are using canned beans, I don't think they absorb those flavors as much because they are pretty much cooked when they get canned.  


After soaking over night the beans should have doubled if not tripled in size.  Drain the beans.  Cut up the celery and onions.  Crush and mince the garlic.  If you haven't done this before, follow the pictures link to my post on this.

Place all of the ingredients in a slow cooker or crockpot.  Be sure to put in some salt and pepper to taste.  Depending on the kind of ham you got, you may not need too much salt.  With the ham I used, I put in about a teaspoon of salt.  You can always add salt later but if you put too much in now it will be harder to adjust the taste.  Fill the crock pot with enough water to cover most of the ham bone.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 3 hours.  Check the flavor and the doneness of the beans.  The beans should be soft and burst with wonderful taste.  You can add more salt or pepper if needed.  Remove the bay leaf before serving.

If you want to try and increase your vegetables in this meal you could add some organic spinach or kale at the end of the cooking time for about 10 minutes.  This will give the soup some added punch in the nutrient category!



I am a big advocate of letting your nose and tongue decide when a dish is done.  If it smells good and tastes great, then your food is probably done.  If you just follow a recipe and then serve it before tasting, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.  Also, when getting your vegetables together, try and use the freshest one available.  In this case, get organic celery.  The amount of pesticides they put in conventional celery is scary.  The onion and garlic does not have to be organic, pests don't really enjoy these vegetables.


The soup is best served with a good crusty bread like a baguette or campagne loaf from Le Petite Outre.  Leftovers make an easy and great lunch.  Also, you can freeze the leftovers for an even quicker meal sometime in the future.

Crushing Garlic Clove

How to Crush a Garlic Clove

First place your clove of garlic and a cutting board that won't slip or move around on the counter. 






Next, place your large knife on top of the clove or cloves.

Now place your hand on top of the knife to measure where you want to hit the knife and then pound the knife.  Be careful that you aim for the part of the knife that is dull.  You really don't want to cut your hand because bloody garlic is no good for anyone.

Your clove or cloves should look like this.  You can crush again if desired.  Next, peel the garlic of its paper husk.  It might be easier if you cut the root end of the garlic. 

Now you can finely dice, chop or mince the garlic as desired.

Introduction

Hi there! My name is Matt and I hope to use this blog to talk about my passion...FOOD!!! I come from a long line of foodies and truly enjoy everything about food. From growing it, to storing, buying it, cooking with it and then disposing of it...I love it all. I also love showing and teaching others how to cook. It gives me a chance to scratch that education itch that also runs in my family. Somehow I need to find a way to make a living off of this passion but until I find a way I will have to settle myself with this blog.

This blog will be used to relay ideas, recipes and other tidbits of information regarding food. My inspiration for this blog comes from many sources. Personally I have to start with my wife Patti whom I love cooking for. She has continued to support my passion from the early years of burnt disasters to fun and exciting results that now pop out of the kitchen. I also love cooking for my son who continues to amaze me with the amount of food he eats and what he is willing to try. From a blog standpoint I love Amanda's blog on food, here is the link if you'd like to take a gander.

Also Maggie Connors blog has inspired me to use photography as a way of getting my message across, here is her link if you'd like to take a look at that.

Finally, my cooking inspiration comes from Jamie Oliver. While I have many of his cookbooks, his best one as of late is Jamie At Home. He shows how to grow the food as well as harvest and cook it as well. It is a great idea and he does it very well. Jamie is part of a growing trend where local and organic food is what we need to be consuming as humans. There is too much processed and fast food out there and we, as a culture, are too quick to take these easy ways to satisfy our cravings. We need to learn to go back to the basics and create our own food, talk to our growers and butchers, find the food that is more down to earth than the plastic wrapped choices we have in the super markets. Hopefully I can try and show how easy it can be to get good food from the store or your garden to your table and your tummy!


If you have questions, suggestions, or ideas, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at matt.woodcock66@gmail.com


Thanks so much for reading!