RECIPE ROUNDUP
A Little This, a Little That
By Kevin Hargis
There’s not a whole lot I like about winter—too cold and too gray for my sunny disposition. But there is at least one bright, warm spot in the season, and I can find it in my kitchen, specifically in a 2-gallon soup pot.
There’s not much simpler or more satisfying than a warm broth on a cold evening. And with so many possibilities—different combinations of ingredients, spices and flavors—you could make a different soup every day until spring has sprung.
When I’m in a mood for a good winter soup, I often start with a peek in the refrigerator/freezer.
I’m what you might call a this ’n’ that kind of cook. When I find an ingredient that I want to build a dish around, I’ll toss it in the pot with a bit of this, then add a bit of that, and before you know it, dinner’s ready. The biggest drawback to that kind of cooking, besides the occasional barely edible misfires, is that if I make something truly delicious, I sometimes have problems re-creating it. Thus, I’ve started taking notes when I’m cooking.
The this ’n’ that method is how I concocted this stew, which pairs lamb—a meat that often gets overlooked—with root vegetables and fresh herbs.
LAMB AND ROOT VEGETABLE STEW
2 pounds lamb shoulder or roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium sweet yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups water or chicken broth
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)
6 medium carrots, chopped
1 pound “A”-size red potatoes, quartered
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
Put lamb in large storage bag with flour and black pepper and shake to coat thoroughly. Heat olive oil in large soup pot on medium heat and cook lamb until pieces are lightly browned. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with wine. Transfer to slow cooker, add remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly. Cook on slow for 4-5 hours, or until carrots and potatoes are soft. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Serving size: 1 cup. Per serving: 527 calories, 34.2 g protein, 25.4 g fat, 34.8 g carbohydrates, 4.2 g fiber, 564 mg sodium, 102 mg cholesterol
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HOME COOKING
Recipe Contest Winner: Mary Bruck Allen, Pedernales Electric Cooperative
Prize-Winning Recipe: Tomatillo Cilantro Chicken Soup
Spicy, creamy and cheesy and full of chicken—that’s the way we like our winter soups. A wide variety of recipes were submitted for this month’s contest, featuring everything from mushroom and pumpkin cream soups to hearty beef and vegetable stews.
But it was the chicken-based soups that won the battle for the judges’ taste buds, including the crème de la crème, a tortilla soup-like creation made zippy with the twang of tomatillos.
TOMATILLO CILANTRO CHICKEN SOUP
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup minced garlic
Salt to taste
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 cans (15 ounces each) cream-style corn
1 tablespoon black pepper
Quarter tomatillos. Sauté onion in butter and add garlic and tomatillos. Cook until soft, then salt. Add broth, chicken breasts and cilantro and simmer 30 minutes. Remove chicken to plate to cool and continue to simmer soup for another 30 minutes. Chop chicken and add back to soup with creamed corn and pepper.
Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips, if desired.
Serving size: 1 cup. Per serving: 345 calories, 26.3 g protein, 13.3 g fat, 31.5 g carbohydrates, 3.7 g fiber, 100 mg sodium, 81 mg cholesterol
GREEN CHILE CHICKEN SOUP
1/2 stick butter or margarine
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup mild salsa
2 cans (41/2 ounces each) chopped green chilies
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 cans (8 ounces each) whole kernel corn (drained)
4 cups (about 2 pounds) diced or shredded cooked chicken
4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded American or Cheddar cheese
Combine butter and olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté 4 minutes. Stir often. Add flour and stir well 1 minute. Add salsa, green chilies, cumin and red pepper. Stir until a thick paste forms. Add chicken broth, tomatoes and corn. Stir well, scraping sides and bottom of pan to loosen all the flour. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and add chicken. Cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Warm cream in microwave or on stovetop, then add to soup along with cilantro. Bring back to a simmer. Add cheese, remove pan from heat and stir until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
Serving size: 1 cup. Per serving: 589 calories, 23.5 g protein, 43.4 g fat, 24.3 g carbohydrates, 3.2 g fiber, 830 mg sodium, 177 mg cholesterol
B.J. Willis
Bowie-Cass Electric Cooperative
COCONUT-GINGER CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
2 chicken breasts
2 teaspoons coarse ground sea salt
12-inch piece ginger root, peeled
5 medium carrots, diced
1/4 cup onion, thinly sliced
1 can coconut milk
1 cup frozen green peas
1 tablespoon sweet basil
8 ounces fettuccini (use brown rice pasta for gluten-free soup)
Place first five ingredients in Crock-Pot along with two quarts water and cook overnight on low setting.
In the morning, remove ginger root and discard. Remove chicken breasts and cut into small pieces and return to pot, then add coconut milk, frozen peas and sweet basil. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, if needed. After one to two more hours, break fettuccini into 1-inch pieces and add to soup. Cook until noodles are done.
Serving size: 1 cup. Per serving: 367 calories, 26.2 g protein, 9 g fat, 43.6 g carbohydrates, 4.4 g fiber, 899 mg sodium, 45 mg cholesterol
Cynthia Hawkins
Farmers Electric Cooperative
SLOW COOKER POZOLE
1 medium chile negra, rehydrated
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
3/4 pound pork tenderloin
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 cups onion, chopped
1 medium bay leaf
3/4 tablespoon Mexican oregano
3/4 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 can (4 1/2 ounces) green chiles
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) beef broth
1 can (15 ounces) white hominy (pozole)
2 cans (15 ounces each) yellow hominy
Salt and pepper to taste.
Puree rehydrated chile with about half of chicken broth. Scrape into 5-quart Crock-Pot and add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
Serving size: 1 cup. Per serving: 165 calories, 22.8 g protein, 2.6 g fat, 11.7 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 573 mg sodium, 52 mg cholesterol
Dana B. Norman
Pedernales Electric Cooperative
Semolina Bread Bowls
1 cup semolina flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons (one packet) instant or fast-acting yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Combine dry ingredients in bowl and add 1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees). Using the bread hook attachment of a mixer or your hands, knead dough until all bits of dry ingredients are incorporated and mixture becomes soft, smooth and elastic. Cover dough in bowl with dish towel and put in warm place to rise, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until dough has about doubled in size.
Divide dough in three pieces and shape into round loaves, but don’t flatten. Place on a baking sheet that’s been lightly greased or lined with parchment paper at least 4 inches apart (dough will spread). Cover with a light cloth and allow to rise another hour and a half or until dough balls have doubled in size.
Uncover balls and expose to air for about 10 to 15 minutes so outer crust will toughen. With about 5 minutes left in this process, preheat oven to 425 degrees. When oven is hot, heavily mist loaves with water. Bake for about 20 minutes or until loaves turn golden brown. Turn oven off and crack door open for about 15 minutes before removing to rack to finish cooling.
When ready to serve soup, cut a round out of the top of the bowl, remove some of the soft bread inside and freeze in a plastic bag to use later when a recipe calls for breadcrumbs.
Cook’s Tip
To measure water temperature to 110 degrees without a thermometer, test with your wrist. It should feel just warm to the touch, but not hot.
GO LOW AND SLOW
If you have time in the morning before you head to work, why not slow-cook a soup or stew in a Crock-Pot? Stewing at the low setting on a slow cooker for several hours is safer and more energy efficient than leaving a soup to simmer on the stove.
If you don’t want your soup to cook for eight hours, you can invest in a slow cooker with a delay timer or an auto-off setting.
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RECIPE CONTEST
March’s recipe contest topic is Green Cooking. Slow cookers and toaster ovens are great ways to reduce energy use in the kitchen. So is choosing foods that require less preparation or cooking time. Send your recipes and tips for cooking green. The deadline is November 10.
Send recipes to Home Cooking, 1122 Colorado, 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. You may also fax them to (512) 486-6254, e-mail them to recipes@texas-ec.org, or submit online at www.texascooppower.com. Please include your name, address and phone number, as well as the name of your electric co-op. The top winner will receive a copy of 60 Years of Home Cooking and a Texas-shaped trivet. Runners-up will also receive a prize.
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